MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday presses the desire for the country’s air defenses as a component of NATO military activities near Russia’s borders.
In a meeting with army officers and weapons brands in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Putin highlighted in particular the deployment of US-led NATO missile defense pieces in Eastern Europe and the common missions of NATO ships near Russian waters in the Baltic and Black Seas.
“Even now, an American warship has entered the Black Sea, and we can see it with binoculars or in the grid of our defense systems,” he said, referring to the USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U. S. Fleet, deployed in the Black Sea.
Russia was angered by the deployment of U. S. and NATO ships near its waters when tensions between Moscow and the West bottomed out after the Cold War after Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, it is because of a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine and other irritants.
Last month, Russia suspended its project to NATO and ordered Moscow’s closure of the alliance after NATO withdrew the accreditation of 8 Russian officials at its headquarters in Brussels, saying it believed they were secretly running for Russian intelligence.
Moscow has continuously expressed considerations about the deployment of NATO forces near Russia’s borders, describing it as a risk to its security. Russia and the alliance have also frequently been accused of harmful and provocative maneuvers at sea and in the air.
In June, Russia said one of its soldiers had fired cautionary shots and that a warplane had dropped bombs in the path of the British destroyer Defender to keep it away from the waters of the Black Sea near the Crimean city of Sebastopol. He insisted that his shipment had not been fired and said he was sailing in Ukrainian waters.
As the world’s top countries, Britain recognizes Crimea as a component of Ukraine despite Russia’s annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
After the incident, Moscow warned that it was in a position to attack intruding warships if they did not heed the warnings.
“We still want our air and area defense system, as major powers have developed possible high-speed attack weapons,” Putin said. The emergence of alliance warships armed with guided missiles in the Baltic and Black Seas.
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