"I was able to get a sense of his soul"

So said George Bush on the occasion of meeting Vladimir Putin for the first time after assuming the office of the President of the United States, back in June of 2001.

Is there anything that George Bush hasn't fucked up?

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a scathing attack on the West on Thursday, accusing Washington of imperialism and of starting a new arms race.

Speaking a week before he meets leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial nations in Germany, Putin said Russia's tests on Tuesday of a two new missiles were a direct response to U.S. moves to create a missile defense system.

"We are not the initiators of this new round of the arms race," Putin told a joint Kremlin news conference with visiting Greek President Karolos Papoulias.

"There is no need to fear Russia's actions: they are not aggressive," he said. "They are a mere response to harsh and groundless unilateral actions by our partners and are aimed at maintaining the balance of forces in the world."

Putin's comments, which will be popular among ordinary Russians in a year when there is a parliamentary election, are the latest in a line of harsh outbursts against the West.

Russia on Tuesday test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple warheads and a new cruise missiles, which Russian generals say are sufficient to ensure the country's security for the next 40 years.

"Our partners are stuffing eastern Europe with new weapons," Putin said. "What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this."

Moscow has been alarmed by U.S. plans to deploy elements of its global missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Washington says it wants to avert attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran but Russia sees a threat to its own security.

"There is a clear desire by some international players to dictate their will to everyone without adhering to international law," Putin said. "International law has been replaced by political reasons."

"In our opinion it is nothing different from diktat, nothing different from imperialism," he added.

Lovely.