At the same time, General Ivashov sees no signs of a possible major military conflict in Europe
Moscow. January 24. INTERFAX - The danger of military incidents has increased due to the growing tension in relations between Russia and NATO - against the background of the beginning of Russian manners in the Baltic and the plans of the North Atlantic Alliance to send additional ships and aircraft to Eastern Europe, a military expert, retired Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, told Interfax on Monday.
The Baltic Fleet of the Russian Federation on Monday announced the start of major exercises in the Baltic - 20 warships, boats and support vessels went to sea.
NATO is sending additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe in connection with the buildup of Russian military forces near Ukraine, the alliance said on Monday.
"20 Russian ships on exercises is quite a lot for the Baltic Sea and the whole region," said Ivashov, formerly head of the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to him, the entry of such a number of ships into the exercises may be accompanied by the readiness of Russian ground forces in the Kaliningrad region, including coastal anti-ship missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion", as well as operational-tactical missile systems "Iskander-M".
"NATO is unlikely to strengthen the grouping in the Baltic Sea in response. However, NATO can respond by sending ships - twenty or fewer - to the waters of the Black Sea, which we consider our own. And NATO aviation may start flying there more often. What will our actions be? This is becoming dangerous today," Ivashov said.
"The situation is aggravated. There is a risk of military incidents - due to some careless actions, someone's possible provocations. The situation can be solved by strengthening the negotiation process," the agency interlocutor stressed.