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UK 'Should Be Proud' of Imposing Sanctions Against Russia: Foreign Secretary

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Britain should be proud of having imposed economic sanctions against Russia, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Wednesday at a conference held by the British Conservative Party.

LONDON, October 1 (RIA Novosti) – Britain should be proud of having imposed economic sanctions against Russia, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Wednesday at a conference held by the British Conservative Party.

"We should be proud that Britain has led the way in securing far-reaching sanctions [against Russia]," Hammond said adding that the UK will not "allow our NATO allies in Eastern Europe to be bullied."

"A threat to any NATO member will get a response from us all, that's why we sent our Typhoon jets to the Baltic earlier this year and we'll do it again if we need to. Because NATO and its principle of collective self-defense protected us through the dark years of the Cold War and it will remain the corner stone of our defense policy today and going forward," Hammond added.

On September 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia's Western partners "have not managed to overcome the Cold War mentality", which is causing systematic problems.

In an interview with Russia's Channel 5, Lavrov noted that the principle of indivisible security, which states that "security must be equal and indivisible and no country should strengthen its security at the expense of the security of others" is not working, amid the spread of NATO infrastructure eastward, closer to Russian borders.

Relations between Russia and NATO have deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Heads of the alliance kept accusing Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs, sending troops to Ukraine, and went as far as to claim that Moscow planned to invade Ukraine. However, none of these statements were supported with any evidence.

Over the past months, NATO has been placing additional forces in the Baltic region after the political crisis erupted in Ukraine and Crimea reunited with Russia in March. The alliance explained such measures with the need to ensure the security of its allies.

On April 1, NATO ended all practical cooperation with Russia over Ukraine, only maintaining contacts at the ambassadors' and higher levels.

Russia has repeatedly expressed concern over the increasing and excessive NATO military presence close to its borders.

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