Moscow Calls on NATO to Consider Consequences of Escalation in Light of Planned Drills Near Russia

Sputnik News

11:35 GMT 07.03.2020(updated 12:20 GMT 07.03.2020)

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, increased NATO activities near Russia's borders will not make Moscow change its foreign policy.

NATO members planning to perform military manoeuvres near the Russian border should think about the consequences of their belligerent actions that could lead to increased tensions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"Neither Washington, nor NATO conceal the fact that the 'potential enemy' in the drills is Russia...Historically, our country has been threatened with similar sabre-rattling; such threats, however, were fruitless", the ministry said adding that the hostile intentions of the US and NATO will be reciprocated by Moscow's own development of military capabilities.

The comments come ahead of NATO's "Defender Europe-2020" war games, scheduled for April-May, which, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, will become the biggest manoeuvre since the end of the Cold War.

It was earlier revealed that nearly 7,000-10,000 US troops will take part in the exercises in Poland alone, almost half the total number of US soldiers participating in these drills.

Set to take place across 10 countries, Defender Europe-2020 will see the biggest deployment of US military forces to Europe in the past 25 years. The drills are expected to involve 37,000 allied troops from 18 nations, including 17 NATO members and Georgia, and last several months through July. The first drill-related movements of troops and equipment began in late February.

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