West responsible for tensions in Europe: Putin
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday blamed the West for escalating tensions in Europe, saying it had incorrectly assessed the outcome of the Cold War.
Speaking to senior military officials, Putin said Russia would respond “adequately” to any Western aggression and would develop its army further.
Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine, demanding that Nato refuse to accept the former Soviet republic as a member and guarantee that no weapons or troops will be deployed there.
Speaking at the same meeting, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the United States had deployed some 8,000 troops near Russian borders and, alongside Nato allies, frequently performed flights by strategic bomber planes close to Russia.
Attempts by Nato to get the Ukrainian army involved in the alliance’s activities present a security threat, Shoigu said.
“In the event of the continuation of the obviously aggressive stance by our Western colleagues, we will take appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures,” Putin told a defence ministry meeting.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior Russian diplomat said contacts had already begun between Moscow and Washington on the issue of security guarantees that Russia is seeking, and there was a possibility that the sides would reach an understanding.
Russia test-fires cruise missile from submarine
A submerged Russian submarine has successfully launched a Kalibr cruise missile from the Sea of Japan at a target more than 1,000km away, located at a Russian training ground onshore, the RIA news agency said on Tuesday.
The drill also involved covert movement and support from military ships, aircraft and drones, it quoted Russia’s Pacific Navy as saying.
Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands in the nearby Sea of Okhotsk, which Tokyo refers to as the Northern Territories in a territorial row dating from the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.
The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.