Putin vows to strengthen military

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says Russia needs a powerful military to fend off threats near its borders, a statement that reflects tensions with the West over the Ukrainian crisis.

Speaking at Thursday’s Kremlin meeting with graduates of Russian military academies, Putin said that a “powerful army equipped with modern weapons is the guarantor of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia.”

He vowed to continue a sweeping military modernization effort that envisages procurement of large numbers of new weapons.

Putin added that Russia has no aggressive intentions and aims to “settle any disputes exclusively by political means with respect to international law and interests of other nations.”

Russia-West relations have sunk to post-Cold War lows after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

German minister condemns protests

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s justice minister is condemning protests near Dresden where dozens of people have demonstrated against housing refugees in a former hotel.

Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday that protesters’ calls for violence against refugees in the town of Freital “are absolutely unacceptable.” He says there’s no place in Germany for anti-refugee sentiment, directed at people who have lost everything and are looking for help.

Members of Pegida, a right-wing movement that’s staged regular rallies in Dresden and elsewhere against immigrants and Muslims, helped initiate the protests.

The German news agency dpa reported that they demonstrated against the arrival of the first refugee families with shouting and slurs.

Refugees’ supporters clashed with the protesters Wednesday night and the two sides had to be separated by police.