Russia takes swipe at NATO over war games
Iran Press TV
Mon Dec 1, 2014 3:15PM GMT
Russia has taken issue with NATO over the Western military alliance's staging of war games in northern Europe.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov as saying on Monday that Russia believes NATO is destabilizing northern Europe by holding military exercises there and 'transferring aircraft capable of carrying nuclear arms' to the Baltic states.
'This reality is extremely negative,' Meshkov told the agency in the interview, adding, 'The Russian authorities are and will be taking every step to firmly safeguard the security of Russia and its citizens...no matter which part of our country it concerns.'
Baltic states hold a considerable number of Russian speakers.
Alexander Grushko, Russia's envoy to the Western military alliance, also said last month that the country will inspect NATO's increasing presence in Eastern Europe being established under the pretext of the crisis in Ukraine, adding that it will frame its new defense policy with regard to the issue.
As a result of the crisis in Ukraine, which has been raging for months, relations between NATO and Russia have plummeted to their lowest since the Cold War.
The West accuses Moscow of playing a hand in the crisis, but Russia denies the allegation.
HN/HMV/SS
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