INCREASING TENSIONS
The Kremlin has for several weeks been dropping hints that Putin, who steps down next year after two terms in power, was preparing a major foreign policy speech that would point the way for his successor.
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Its delivery at the prestigious annual Munich meeting on security was clearly aimed at attracting maximum attention.
"The message I got from his speech was that Putin wants Russia to have the same position in the world as the former Soviet Union," a senior European official told Reuters.
Putin spoke against a background of increasing Russian agitation over U.S. policy on Iraq, and on the Iran and North Korea nuclear issues, as well as growing self-confidence as an emerging energy superpower.
U.S. plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic have become a fresh irritant in U.S.-Russian relations. Washington says the system is needed for defense against rockets launched by Iran and North Korea -- an argument rejected by Moscow.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who has been extremely critical of the U.S. anti-missile system, will address the conference on Sunday.
Putin said the United States had repeatedly overstepped its national borders in questions of international security, a policy that he said had made the world less, not more, safe.
"Unilateral actions have not resolved conflicts but have made them worse," Putin said, adding that force should only be used when backed by the UN Security Council.
"This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure any more because nobody can hide behind international law," he said.
