MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. The number of military exercises staged by NATO near Russian borders reached forty per year, Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov said at the briefing for foreign military attaches.

"Intensified activity of NATO near Russian borders is noted amid higher tension. The number of large-scale military exercises of alliance’s member-countries reached forty activities per year. Numerous military contingents are staged near our borders on a permanent basis. The anti-Russian rhetoric is confirmed by the Steadfast Defender, the large-scale exercise of this year. All the countries of the alliance were involved in it, with practicing of issues of large-scale combat operations in the European continent," Gerasimov said.

Finland and Sweden became full-fledged members of NATO and the total number of member-countries reach 32 as a result of the "open doors" policy implementation in the alliance, he added.