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Situation around Russia will improve if Moscow stays strong — Putin

According to Putin, NATO is developing rapid reaction forces and enhancing its infrastructure near Russian structures, and attempts are seen to break up nuclear parity

MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. The situation around Russia will improve if Moscow does not bend to pressure but becomes stronger, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at the meeting of the Federal Security Service (FSB) board.

"NATO is developing rapid reaction forces and enhancing its infrastructure near our structures, and attempts are seen to break up the nuclear parity, and the creation of the European and Asian-Pacific segment of antimissile defense is being pushed for," Putin said.

He reminded that "the US unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in fact crashed the basis and the foundation of the modern system of international security."

"Principally new weapons systems of prompt global strike and conducting military operations in space are being developed," the president said.

However, Putin said that the attempts to frighten and put pressure on Moscow have failed and will not succeed. "We have always had and will have an adequate response to all the domestic and external threats to national security," he said.

"The situation cannot remain like this forever and it will change and I hope for the better, including around this country," the Russian leader said. He stressed that the situation will change for the better "not because we will constantly make concessions, bend or slobber over someone."

"It will change for the better only in case if we become stronger," Putin said.

The Russian leader said 2014 was a rather difficult year and the situation in the world became tense, including in the Middle East and other regions of the world, and the coup provoked a civil war in Ukraine.

"Russia is making much effort to reconcile the sides and normalize the situation," Putin said.

For instance, Putin said Russia "has provided and continues providing shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees /from Ukraine/ and is attempting to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe."

However, the Russian president said such Moscow’s stance and independent policy and even attempts to provide assistance to those in need, including in Ukraine, and several other regions "arouse undisguised discontent" of colleagues and partners.

"A whole range of means - from attempts of political isolation and economic pressure to large-scale information war and tools of special services - are used for the so-called containment of Russia," Putin said.

Putin thanked the FSB officials and their colleagues for their well-coordinated work last year, for irreproachable accomplishment of tasks, as well as courage and protecting security and national interests of Russia.

The Russian leader said that in 2015 the responsibility will grow and the FSB officials will be tasked with increasing the efficiency of work in all the areas of their activity.