MOSCOW (Tass) – NATO’s eastward expansion is one of the major threats to Russia’s national security, as the flight time to cities in the country’s European part is becoming shorter, Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Newsweek.
“The continuing advance of the North Atlantic bloc to the East is one of the main threats to Russia’s national security. As the bloc approaches our border proper, the flight time of NATO air and missile weapons to Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities in the European part of the country is reduced,” Antonov said.
“How would the U.S. government react if Washington, New York or Los Angeles were ‘under the bombsight’?” he added.
The ambassador said that the talks focused on the ways to preserve peace and stability in Europe by working out security guarantees based on draft agreements proposed by Moscow.
“After the collapse of the USSR, the security situation in Europe deteriorated sharply. Five ‘waves’ of NATO expansion have brought the Alliance States forces closer to our borders,” he stated.
“NATO is constantly building up its offensive potential, demonstrating military force along the perimeter of the Russian territory. Every year, about 40 major exercises are held in the immediate vicinity of Russia’s borders, including training cruise missile launches by strategic aviation and naval maneuvers in the Black and Baltic Seas,” the Russian diplomat said.
On Monday, Geneva hosted Russian-U.S. consultations on security guarantees. On Thursday, a Russia-NATO Council meeting was held in Brussels, and a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council was held in Vienna on Thursday.
NATO’s efforts, aimed at military development of former Soviet republics, are unacceptable for Moscow, Antonov has told.
“NATO’s efforts aimed at the military development of the former Soviet republics are unacceptable to us. This is fraught with the deployment of missile systems and other destabilizing weapons that directly threaten our country. As a result, the risks of escalation and direct military clashes in the region and beyond will increase manifold. Everything has its limits. We are, in fact, on the edge of precipice,” the ambassador said.
He also said that Russia compiled draft security guarantees “to prevent such a development of the situation”.
“It was these documents that were discussed at the Russian-American talks, as well as in the framework of the Russia-NATO Council and the OSCE. Their goal is to put legally binding guarantees on paper that the alliance will refrain from any further expansion to the East and from the deployment of strike weapons in the immediate vicinity of our borders,” the Russian diplomat said.