VOLGOGRAD, July 17. /TASS/. Russia cannot ignore the threats coming from NATO, which has state-of-the-art weapons targeted at Russia, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

"It happened so that after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist, our neighbors, who were NATO members, did not dissolve but continued to consolidate. They did not make any symmetrical steps and, despite various promises they have been giving for 30 years, have admitted more countries to the North Atlantic alliance and expanded closer to the borders of our country. Their goals remained unchanged and their state-of-the-art weapons are still targeted at our country. No one has pulled them out," he said, adding that our country continues to be the target of their nuclear arsenals.

"We cannot be indifferent to that," he stressed. "Despite our efforts to build friendly relations, life is life and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s, other developments on the planet and the current situation show that. If you don’t retaliate, if you ignore such threats, it ends up very sadly."

"A threat of the loss of sovereignty may not be that dangerous for a small country as it is part of an association of countries, which supports it," he noted. "It is fatally dangerous for our country, which is unique. If we don’t defend ourselves, we won’t exist at all. The entire history of the 20th century proves it."

"We must learn the lessons of history, but we should be prepared for the fact that a range of countries are ignoring these lessons," he warned.