MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Moscow will be forced to take ‘countervailing’ military measures should NATO make good on its threats related to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday.

"Attempts to portray what is happening as a military and political response to Russia’s actions reek of a propaganda campaign with a large element of deliberate misinformation being fed to global public opinion," Ryabkov stated. "When these threats begin to materialize into real action, we will have to take countervailing military measures."

Over the past years, the alliance’s member-states have adopted an ideology of a dual-track approach to their relations with Russia: to contain it along with holding dialogue on the issues, which NATO seeks to discuss. Russia will pursue a similar line, the high-ranking diplomat stressed. "We will contain NATO’s aggressive plans, measure them and adopt a very selective approach to dialogue with the alliance, which the member-states of this organization are promoting."

According to Ryabkov, although the alliance is interested in discussing the Ukrainian crisis at the NATO-Russia Council, "this does not mean that Moscow will be ready to do this."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 25 that the alliance’s member-states could agree on a number of measures in connection with Russia’s suspended participation in the INF Treaty. Besides, he said Russia had five more weeks to eliminate its missiles, which allegedly violate the arms control treaty.