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Russia set to adjust its military doctrine toward NATO

Iran Press TV

Tue Sep 2, 2014 11:33AM GMT

Russia will adjust its military doctrine in response to NATO’s plans to boost its presence in Eastern Europe, a senior Russian official says.

The deputy secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, Mikhail Popov, on Tuesday accused the Western military alliance of ratcheting up tensions by boosting its military presence near Russia's borders.

He said the enlargement of NATO is “one of the leading military dangers and external threats to the Russian Federation.”

The official added that the US is planning to deploy heavy weaponry and military hardware, including tanks and armored vehicles, to Estonia and other Baltic states.

The Russian military official noted that the defense move was evidence of the desire of US and NATO leaders to continue their policy of aggravating tensions with Russia.

He termed the US missile system plan in Eastern Europe as another threat to Russia's security.

"I have no doubt that the question of the approach of NATO members' military infrastructure to our border, including by an expansion of the bloc, will remain as one of the foreign military threats to Russia," Popov added.

His remarks came after NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that the alliance is set to upgrade its military readiness at a summit this week to increase its presence in eastern European member states.

He added that the summit in Wales would specially boost NATO’s rapid response force, creating a spearhead of “several thousand troops” which could be sent within “very few days” to meet any new threat.

Since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russia protesters in mid-April, Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the country’s east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Russia of fueling the crisis in east Ukraine, but Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations and criticized its Western neighbor for the heavy crackdown on the pro-Russia protesters in the region.

SF/SS