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As Donald Trump tears up a key arms control treaty and pledges to rebuild his country's nuclear arsenal, Russia's president has promised to mirror every move.
Last week, he even joked about nuclear Armageddon.
Military might has become key to Mr Putin's positioning of Russia as a country to reckon with: no longer a superpower like the USSR, but still a nuclear force and one with its own agenda and interests to defend.
So the fact that the INF treaty is now close to tatters apparently suits Moscow just fine.