Russia will counter NATO missile system in Europe

Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolai Bordyuzha

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/23/242648/russia-warns-to-counter-nato-missile/

The secretary general of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Nikolai Bordyuzha, has warned of Moscow’s action against the threat of NATO’s missile defense shield, says a report.

Speaking at a press conference in the Russian capital on Monday, Bordyuzha said NATO’s plan to set up the missile defense system in eastern Europe would escalate tensions and damage the international security and strategic stability in Europe and across the world, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

The Russian official reiterated Moscow’s objection to the deployment of the missile defense facilities near its borders, saying the move would threaten the country’s national security. He also questioned the need for NATO and US-led military build-up in Bulgaria, Romania and the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea.

The Russian official further said that NATO ignores its previous agreements with Russia on not expanding its defense operations to the east, warning that Moscow would take action against such a deployment.

His remarks came after NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced the “first step” of a European missile defense system on Sunday.

“In Lisbon, we agreed to create a NATO missile defense system. Today, in Chicago, we have declared that a reality. We call this an Interim Capability,” Rasmussen said after a NATO summit in Chicago.

The US and NATO agreed to establish a missile system at a summit in Lisbon in 2010, but negotiations between Russian and the alliance have floundered as NATO rejected to grant Russia legal guarantees that the system would not target Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent.

Earlier this month, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces General Nikolay Makarov also warned that Russia would retain the right to a preemptive strike on NATO’s European missile shield system if Washington refused to engage in constructive dialogue on the issue.

Russia formerly threatened to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea coast to defend against the threat of NATO missiles.

Rasmussen, however, said the missile system in Europe could not be a threat to Russia's security.