NATO Building Up Military Presence Near Russian Borders From Black To Baltic Seas - Moscow

NATO continues to steadily move eastward and build up its military presence near Russia's border from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) NATO continues to steadily move eastward and build up its military presence near Russia's border from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"There is a gradual rotational and permanent presence of US troops in the countries bordering Russia. The military transportation activity at our borders is gradually expanding ... This NATO activity aimed at building up its presence near Russian borders can be seen along the entire length of the arc running from the Baltic to the Black Sea. As many as four multinational NATO battalions are stationed in Poland and the Baltic countries, and a multinational brigade is stationed in Romania. The matter of forming a permanent group of NATO naval forces in the Black Sea has not been removed from the agenda," Zakharova said at a briefing.

According to the spokeswoman, since October, the Baltic region and Northern Europe have hosted numerous forces and military equipment that have been involved in a series of large military exercises organized by the alliance.

They supplement the forces already stationed on NATO's eastern flank.

These developments are leading to the region being militarized, generating new risks and increasing the degree of military-political confrontation, Zakharova added.

NATO-Russian relations have been complicated over the past years as the alliance maintains its course for eastward expansion. The alliance has been also stepping up its military presence in Europe since 2014, using the alleged Russian involvement in the Ukraine crisis and what it describes as general destabilizing activities as a pretext. Moscow has refuted the allegations and warned that such a policy may undermine stability in the region.