Russia has reinforced its belligerent stance by announcing that it will commission 70 new strategic nuclear warheads in the next three years as part of a $133.4 billion defense procurement.  Experts argue that the new procurement represents Russia’s efforts to strengthen its bargaining position for the upcoming negotiations with Washington, when the current nuclear arms treaty, Start I, expires next December. The news follows on the heels of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s announcement that he will place short range missile depots in its Kaliningrad exclave to counter America’s proposed missile-defense system in Eastern Europe. The Russian government has denied reports that it will supply Iran with new surface-to-air missiles which may have the range to threaten U.S. planes in Iraq.