BRUSSELS, March 2. /TASS/. NATO will not revise its plans to create the European missile defense system in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, Brussels-based military expert Jean-Mark Hennau told TASS.
"Revising plans to create ground-based missile defense systems in Romania and Poland after the appearance of Russia’s missile systems, which cannot be intercepted by the available means, would not only be a de facto recognition of the fact that these systems were created by the US and NATO precisely against Russia. That would also mean that the funds that had been invested were spent in vain, and this is inadmissible at a time when the alliance is trying to secure an increase in military spending for its member-countries. Therefore, NATO will continue developing missile defense systems in Europe," the expert noted.
NATO Headquarters declined to comment on the issue, recalling that its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the Munich Security Conference, "It is important to avoid a new Cold War, avoid and prevent a new arms race, and therefore we continue to work for dialogue with Russia, to reduce tensions and to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia, because Russia is our neighbor, and we have to continue to work for a better relationship with Russia."