MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. NATO leaders are demonstrating political cynicism towards Russia at their summit in Warsaw, the chairman of the committee for defense and security in the upper house of Russian parliament, Viktor Ozerov, told on Friday in a commentary on the claim by the Secretary General of the North-Atlantic pact, Jens Stoltenberg, that it continued searching for a constructive dialogue with Russia by building up deterrence and defense.
"Surely, this is political cynicism," senator Ozerov told TASS.
He added that five NATO's five extra battalions in Eastern Europe three in the eastern Baltic states, one in Poland and one in Romania did not pose any especial threat to Russia's security but the advance of the bloc's military strucutre to the Russian territory "causes misunderstanding of the common tasks that Russia and NATO may face in the field of counteraction to current threats."
Bringing the NATO (and, in essense, the U.S.) system of the antimissile missiles to the basic operational level also causes natural concern, since the Iranian nuclear programme is long gone and the unfolding of the antimissile missile system means, first and foremost, the installation of an instrument targeted at the Russian Federation.
"More than that, our experts said more than once that re-equipment of these units from the instruments of defense into the vehicles of delivery delivery of nukes included is quite possible," Ozerov said adding that all these decisions are seasoned with allegations about the Russian aggression.
"The hysteria fanned in Europe and in the Euro-Atlantic area in general doesn't facilitate an improvement of relations between Europe and the U.S., on the one hand, and Russia, on the other hand," he said.
"It will be difficult to iron out the aftermaths (of the Warsaw summit) at the forthcoming sedssion of the Russia-NATO Council but I think the Russia side will at least make known its concerns over the decisions that have been taken at the summit or, quite possibly, are still to be taken," Ozerov said.
Given this background, he believes the unfolding of two divisions in Russia's Western Military District and one division in the Southern Military District is obviously justified.
Ozerov indicated that President Putin's decision to station them there did not mean a relocation of armed units from other Russian regions but their regrouping within the Central Federal District.
"There's no doubt proportionate measures will be taken," Ozerov said.