Daria Bedenko
According to the Russian president, the United States has been conducting an anti-Russian policy since the “euphoria” that followed “victory” in the Cold War.
The United States is to be blamed for the escalation of tensions in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
During his speech at the Russian Defence Ministry board meeting, Putin said that Moscow will take adequate military-technical measures in response to the unfriendly steps by the US and has every right to do so.
“As I have already noted, in the event of the continuation of the obviously aggressive line of our Western colleagues, we will take adequate retaliatory military-technical measures, and react toughly to unfriendly steps”, the Russian president said. “And, I want to emphasise, we have every right to do so, we have every right to take actions designed to ensure the security and sovereignty of Russia”.
The Russian president also said that Moscow does not require any special conditions and stands for equal and indivisible security in Europe. However, the West’s actions continue to prompt concerns in the Kremlin.
“The buildup of US and NATO military forces directly on Russia’s borders, as well as by the holding of large-scale exercises, including unplanned ones, cause serious concern”, Putin said. “We are extremely concerned about the deployment of elements of the US global missile defence system near Russia”.
Putin’s remarks come as Russia awaits a response from NATO and the US to its security proposals, which include the alliance not placing offensive weapons in Eastern Europe. The Russian president underlined that if NATO infrastructure moves further and appears in Ukraine, the flight time of missiles will be reduced.
Putin reiterated the demands of the security guarantees, stressing that it was US President Joe Biden who proposed to appoint envoys for negotiations on stability during their December conversation on the situation in Ukraine.
“There should at least be legally binding agreements, not just verbal assurances. We know the price of such verbal assurances, words, and promises”
Sputnik