Russia's defense systems more effective than U.S. ones: Putin

Russia's nuclear defense systems are more effective than those of the United States, and the Russian Armed Forces are stronger than any potential aggressor, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday at his annual year-end press conference.

Commenting on President-elect Donald Trump's recent tweet on the need to enhance the nuclear capability of the U.S., Putin said he was a bit surprised that some people in the current U.S. administration have been trying to prove that the U.S. Armed Forces are the most powerful in the world.

"Nobody is arguing about that," he said. "If someone is accelerating an arms race, it is not Russia."

Putin said Russia will continue to boost its Nuclear Triad, a set of advanced armaments consisting of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which have played a key role in maintaining the country's security.

On Thursday, Trump said in a tweet that the U.S. should "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," sparking speculations on a possible change of Washington's nuclear strategy under the upcoming Trump administration. Endi