The Russian Federation will find ways to neutralize threats from NATO, including the use of military potential as an instrument of economic pressure
Moscow. December 20. INTERFAX - Russia will take adequate retaliatory measures in case of deployment of strike means on the territory of NATO countries capable of reaching Russian control centers in a few minutes, said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.
"If, for example, shock weapons appear on the territory of NATO countries that will be able to reach our control centers within a few minutes, then we will be forced to create an adequate situation for our partners," Grushko said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
He noted that if NATO countries ignore Russian proposals on security guarantees and are "not ready to follow the path of military restraint, then, of course, we will have to respond with the means that we have."
"If there are any options that can be used not even from the point of view of the use of force, but at least the projection of force, that is, military potential is used as a means of economic or political pressure, then, of course, such a situation will never suit Russia, and we will find ways to neutralize these threats," the deputy minister stressed.
On the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry last Friday, a Russian draft agreement on security measures of the Russian Federation and NATO member states was published.
The draft consists of nine articles, assumes the refusal of NATO from expansion, including the accession of Ukraine, conducting military activities on the territory of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, as well as the refusal to deploy medium- and shorter-range missiles in locations from where they can hit the territory of other participants.
