Calling their bluff works, again

The Financial Times has an article by Isabel Gorst about the Russians blinking, a la Reagan:

Russia said on Friday it would halt the development of some strategic weapons if the US abandoned a controversial project to deploy an anti-missile shield in Europe. The remarks appeared to be a conciliatory overture to the incoming US administration, but also reflect the challenge posed to Russia’s ambitious military expansion by the world financial crisis. Nikolai Solovtsov, the colonel general of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said, Russia would “respond adequately,” if the US gave up the interceptor plan. “We simply will not need a number of expensive (strategic missile) programmes," he said
The US and Poland agreed to station elements of the shield on Polish soil in August after Russia went to war with Georgia and relations between Washington and Moscow sank to a new low. The US says the shield was designed to shoot down ballistic missiles it fears could be launched by “rogue” states such as Iran. But Russia sees it is a threat to its own nuclear deterrent and has threatened to respond by building new missiles targeting Europe. Colonel Solovtsov said, “We do not want to frighten anyone by planning to develop strategic weapons. We are simply acting in response to today’s realities.” He said Russia, in addition to developing a new generation of weaponry, was working to extend the lifetime of the RS-20, an intercontinental ballistic missile, dubbed Satan by NATO.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on Thursday that Russia was ready to build a “pragmatic” relationship with the new US administration. Russia hopes the US “will be ready to consider any issues and strive to find mutually acceptable solutions", he said after a meeting with US Senator Richard Lugar in Moscow.
However, John Rood, the US undersecretary for arms control and international security, said Russia had become less flexible in dealing with the US on the shield issue.

Rico says he always knew the military had a funny sense of humor, but Satan? That's sure to raise hackles somewhere...