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Russia is set to ramp up its military presence in Crimea, the country's envoy to the Alliance said justifying the move by NATO's "stepping up activities" in Eastern Europe. The envoy also urged the US to pull out its nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.

"Naturally, we will increase our forces in Crimea because NATO countries have stepped up their activities... in the immediate vicinity of our borders," said Russia's envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Aleksandr Grushko on Friday.

He said Russia's military boost falls in line with international treaties. "There is no ban in place prohibiting us to deploy weapons [in Crimea]," he added.

Grushko's words follow NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's statement made on Thursday concerning the Alliance's plans to increase military activity on its eastern European borders, with more air and sea patrols, amid non-stop exercises.

"NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world and we are going to keep NATO strong by adapting," Stoltenberg said. NATO is planning to double its rapid response force in Europe, he said, adding that new command units will also be established in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.

Grushko noted that NATO is harming itself by turning away from practical cooperation with Russia.
"As of now, we do not see any NATO desire to establish new paths of practical cooperation," he said, responding to Stoltenberg's statement.

Recently NATO gave Moscow updated telephone ‘hotline' numbers for military communication, but hasn't taken the initiative to create new contacts, Grushko added.

He said Russia hopes NATO will abandon the policy of "senseless expansion" and that common sense will prevail when the Alliance decides on Georgia's and Ukraine's membership.
"I hope that common sense will ultimately prevail and these dangerous political games, related to the policy of senseless expansion and attempts to use it as a leverage, will be put aside and our partners will start treating the situation from the point of view of strengthening European security, which is in everyone's interest."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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