GENEVA, January 10. /TASS/. Russia will continue holding drills on its territory despite all of NATO’s objections, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said after the Russia-US consultations on security guarantees on Monday.
"We held and will continue holding these training events on our territory because similar to how NATO takes care of its security, we also take care of our security and do what we deem necessary. In this process, however, we undoubtedly strictly observe all our commitments in arms control and non-proliferation, no matter what our opponents say on this score," the senior Russian diplomat said.
In recent months and years, Moscow has observed "the strongest" exploitation by the North Atlantic alliance and some states of the territory of Ukraine and other countries in close proximity to Russia’s borders, Ryabkov pointed out.
"All this taken together leaves us no other choice but to strengthen the training activity on our territory," the senior Russian diplomat said.
The Russian-US consultations on security guarantees came to an end in Geneva on January 10. On December 17, Russia’s Foreign Ministry published drafts of an agreement with the United States on security guarantees and an agreement between Russia and the NATO member states on security measures. The drafts were handed over to the US side at a meeting in the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 15.