Russia must strengthen its air defences to counter NATO threat, says President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday emphasised the need to strengthen the country’s air defences amid spike in NATO’s military activities near its border. Addressing a meeting with military officials and arms makers in the city of Sochi, Putin highlighted the recent deployment of NATO’s US-led missile defence components in Eastern Europe and the military alliances’ increased missions near Russian waters, calling it a security threat to his country. Interestingly, Sochi itself is located on the coast of the Black Sea whose water the Kremlin uses to prevent Georgia and Ukraine from joining NAT0.

"Even now, a US warship has entered the Black Sea, and we can see it in binoculars or crosshairs of our defence systems,” Putin was quoted as saying by ABC News. Apparently, his comments came in reference to USS Porters, which sailed through the Black Sea over the weekend. Meanwhile, US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, which operates the warship, said that its mission in the caucasus region will help “further enhance collaboration between US and NATO forces at sea.”

Moscow has bristled at the deployment of US and other NATO ships near water which it claims as its own. While both sides have been trading barbs over a variety of topics including Moscow’s annexation of the Cremian peninsula, the NATO-Kremlin relationship hit rock bottom recently. Last month, Russia ordered the alliance’s office in its capital city after NATO refused accreditation of eight Russian officials to its Brussels headquarters.

Russia suspends NATO mission

Last month, Russia suspended its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in response to the "expulsion" of eight members of its military alliance last week. In a statement published on the official website, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on 18 October that the country's staff at NATO’s mission in Moscow would be stripped of their accreditation from 1 November. It also added that the intergovernmental military alliance including 28 European countries and 2 North American countries, could interact with Moscow through its embassy in Brussels if required. Moscow’s reaction came in the backdrop of NATO expelling eight Russian diplomats from the country’s mission saying that they were working as intelligence officers. As per BBC, a NATO official said that men were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers.”

(Image: AP)