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Russia keeps close eye on NATO forces’ deployment in Europe during drills — top brass

The country will continue to do everything it deems right to maintain the security of its borders, the defense minister said

© EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN

DUSHANBE, April 27. /TASS/. Russia is closely watching the NATO forces’ relocation and deployment in Europe as part of the Defender-Europe drills, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) Council of Defense Ministers in Dushanbe on Tuesday.

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"We continue closely watching the situation, the relocation and deployment of NATO forces in Europe during the Defender-Europe drills. We are watching the redeployment of the 53rd infantry brigade of the US Army National Guard’s 29th division who arrived the day before yesterday at the Albanian port of Durres alongside 750 items of military hardware," Russia’s defense chief said.

The Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise was expected to become a part of the Defender-Europe 20 Plus large-scale drills but the plans were substantially adjusted over the novel coronavirus pandemic and the maneuvers were postponed to the summer of last year. They were initially planned for May to involve tens of thousands troops, including more than 20,000 US military personnel.

Border security

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Russia moves troops within the national territory in accordance with its own plans and there can be no external influence in this respect. The country will continue to do everything it deems right to maintain the security of its borders, Sergei Shoigu said.

"Of late, only very lazy ones did not join their voices to the chorus of accusations against Russia on any convenient occasion. Some do not like military exercises in our territory, while others are annoyed by the return of our forces to their permanent locations. There have been also those who warned us our activity in our own territory would not remain without consequences," Shoigu went on.

"I would like to stress: we disagree with such warnings, and are going to do our utmost to maintain the security of our borders further on," Shoigu said.

Earlier, a number of Western politicians said that Russia had returned its forces, involved in military exercises in the south of the country, to their permanent locations under foreign pressure. Some said those were evasive maneuvers concealing Moscow’s real intentions.

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