NATO's response to calls to halt military activity near Russian borders
NATO has responded to the call of the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces to stop military activity near Russia's borders by providing a list of "debunked Russian myths", refuting Russia's opinion about the threat from this military organization.
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| NATO forces present in Eastern Europe. Photo: Reuters |
Earlier, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov stated that: “an important condition for reducing tensions could be the cessation of destabilizing activities of NATO armed forces near Russia's western borders; cessation of additional deployment of troops and military infrastructure objects in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe; cessation of expansion of military presence in the Black Sea”.
Responding to a question about this statement, a NATO official referred to an article on the organization's website: "Five main myths about Russia debunked" - in which NATO presented its argument for deploying forces along Russia's borders.
NATO does not consider its presence in the Baltic region to be a threat, but believes it has taken “defensive and proportionate steps to address the changing security environment in the region”.
In 2016, NATO deployed four multinational forces as part of its “enhanced forward presence” in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
