President Putin: Russia Pledges Response to NATO Expansion

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oF4xCWr9kk]

• President Putin: Russia Pledges Response to NATO Expansion
  by ANDREI AKULOV, http://www.strategic-culture.org/
  Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would take countermeasures in response to NATO expansion.
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  The remarks were part of an interview with American filmmaker Oliver Stone, a famous Academy Award winner. It was broadcast on November 21. The interview was part of Mr. Stone’s documentary titled Ukraine on Fire. The Russian leader noted that he was «concerned» about what NATO is doing and put into question the bloc’s decision making process.
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  The president emphasized that NATO members could hardly resist the pressure of the United States. Talking about Crimea, he said there was a possibility of NATO deploying new bases, strike systems or missile defense sites in the peninsula before it became part of Russia. Vladimir Putin said the situation is tense as Russia has to target the NATO systems that pose a threat to its security.
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  Also on November 21, it was reported that Russia had deployed Bastion mobile coastal defense missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave wedged between Lithuania and Poland. It is to deploy its S-400 air missile defence system and Iskander mobile short range surface-to-surface missile system in that region. Viktor Ozerov, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security, stated that Russia sees the deployment as a response to the US deployment of missile shield in Europe. Russia has been provoked into taking urgent measures to ensure its security.
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  For instance, NATO defense ministers meeting confirmed the decisions to boost the military posture against Russia along its borders on October 26-27. Four multinational battalions stationed in the Baltic States and Poland will be operational in early 2017.
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  Despite NATO’s pledge to refrain from deploying substantial forces along the NATO-Russia border on a permanent basis, frequent war-games and rotational deployments essentially amount to permanent military presence.
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  The NATO-Russia Founding Act, which states no substantial forces are to be deployed, appears all but dead amid the alliance’s push to beef up its presence on its eastern flank. The document has played a very important role in the relationship for almost 20 years. Now the legal foundation for Russia-NATO relationship is valid only on paper.
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  The arguments that the forces will be deployed on temporary basis do not hold water. Actually, stationing forces abroad under the pretext of holding exercises cannot be done on a non-rotational basis, because each unit has an operational cycle, including training events.
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  Earlier this year, the US Defense Department requested $3.4bn for its operations in Europe in 2017, a four-time increase compared to its $789-million budget this year. The American forces will begin receiving continuous troop rotations of US-based armored brigade combat teams to the European theater next year, bringing the total Army presence in the continent up to three fully-manned Army brigades.
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