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NATO’s saber-rattling only impairs security of alliance's members — diplomat

A diplomat says 'NATO must understand that all these rotations, ‘dragoon marches,’ endless drills not only pose a threat to European security in general but also impair security of NATO member states'

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. NATO’s saber-rattling only impair security of its member nations, first of all those who opt to call themselves front-line states, Russia’s Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily.

"Naturally, all measures will be taken to ensure Russia’s security in conditions of NATO’s deployments," he said. "We do have a potential for that."

He said there is nothing new about these measures as the country’s leaders and top military brass have spoken about them more than once.

"We openly tell NATO officials about our steps at Russian-NATO Council meetings," the Russian diplomat noted. "We point to potential danger of their actions, which we cannot and will not ignore."

"NATO must understand that all these rotations, ‘dragoon marches,’ endless drills - all this saber-rattling, in other words - not only pose a threat to European security in general but also impair security of NATO member states, first of all, those who rushed to call themselves front-line states and are sparing no effort to have bigger foreign military presence on their territories," Grushko stressed. "NATO’s military buildup only whip up a new arms race."