US can't be allowed to do whatever it wants: Putin

Russia will have to develop new offensive weapon systems capable of piercing American missile shields in order to maintain balance with the US and prevent it from feeling it 'can do anything' it wants, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

"To maintain the power balance while not developing AMD (anti-missile defence), like the US, we will have to develop offensive arms," Putin told media persons in Vladivostok in the country's Far East Pacific Coast, where he is on a working visit.

"The issues of anti-missile defence and offensive weapon systems are inter-connected. Even during the Cold War, the peace was maintained thanks to this balance of power, which includes the correlation of forces between AMD, air defence and offensive arms," Putin said in remarks televised by Vesti news channel.

His statement came against the backdrop of Moscow and Washington failing to reach the December 5 deadline to put in place a new arms cut pact to replace the Soviet-era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) due to hiccups in verification procedures.

"If we are not developing AMD, then there's a threat that when our partners create an umbrella over themselves to protect them against our offensive systems, they might feel completely safe. And that might mean that our partners will feel they can do anything they want -- the level of aggression in politics and economics will rise right away. The balance will be lost," Putin explained.

He, however, said that at the same time, as part of work on the new START, Russia is ready to provide the United States with information on its offensive systems in exchange for information on their anti-missile plans.

He also noted that the negotiations on the new arms cut pact "are going well."

"However, the final decision on these issues would have to be taken by President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama," Putin underscored.

Issues relating to defence, President Medvedev deals with security and foreign policy, while day-to-day economic and financial matters are in the hands of the Russian strongman Putin, who rarely barge into each other's turf.