YEREVAN, June 17. /TASS/. NATO’s military infrastructure has come very close to the borders of Russia and Belarus, and the US-led military bloc continues to build up its presence on this flank, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said at a meeting with his colleagues from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Yerevan on Friday.

He stressed that the collective security situation in the Eastern European region has significantly deteriorated. "One of the key components of this aggressive policy by the US and its allies has been the reckless expansion of NATO. Despite the political assurances given to us, NATO’s infrastructure has come very close to the Russian and Belarusian borders," the top security official pointed out.

As a result, Patrushev continued, "military presence is being beefed up on the CSTO’s western flank, military infrastructure is being modernized at an accelerated pace, and numerous alliance drills are being held."

"It is obvious that NATO considers the Eastern European region as the most likely theater of military action," he noted. The Russian Security Council Secretary explained that the military drills Defender of Europe - 2022 held in 19 European countries in May, in which about 18,000 people took part, testified to this fact.

"NATO is being used as an instrument of foreign policy, in fact, of one country. It is done in a very aggressive manner and aggravates the already difficult international security environment," Patrushev concluded.