Moscow: Russia views the deployment of Nato troops and military hardware to the Baltic states, Poland and Germany as a threat and has no information about how and when the build-up will end, the RIA news agency reported yesterday.
RIA cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov as saying Moscow was watching closely and would ensure that its own security was guaranteed.
“This deployment is of course a threat for us,” RIA cited Meshkov as saying. “And who said that it will end with this? We do not have such information. For the first time since World War II we see German soldiers along our borders.”
Meshkov’s comments follow the United States deploying thousands of soldiers and heavy weaponry to Poland, the Baltic states and southeastern Europe in its biggest build-up since the Cold War.
German troops and armour are also due to reinforce Lithuania this month as part of Nato’s plans, which are designed to reassure European countries after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.
Earlier in the day, Russia said it viewed Romania as a Nato outpost and as a threat due to it hosting elements of a US anti-missile shield, the Interfax news agency reported.
The US military, which says the shield is needed to protect from Iran, not threaten Russia, switched on the $800m Romanian part of the shield in May last year. Another part of the shield is due to be built in Poland.
“Romania’s stance and the stance of its leadership, who have turned the country into an outpost, is a clear threat for us,” Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, told Interfax in an interview.
“All these decisions ... are in the first instance aimed against Russia,” he said, accusing Romanian authorities of revelling in anti-Russian rhetoric.
Moscow’s comments come as Nato deploys thousands of soldiers and heavy weaponry to Poland, the Baltic states and southeastern Europe, in its biggest buildup since the Cold War.
The US and Nato officials say the move is needed to provide extra security and reassurance to European countries after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, but Russia says it is part of an aggressive strategy on its borders.
