NATO's Buildup in the East Will Not Be Left Without Russia's Response - Envoy

NATO's enhancement of military presence on its eastern flank will not be left without retaliation, the Alliance cannot but realize that, Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Thursday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — NATO's speculations about the alleged Russian threat are "a road to nowhere," Putin said.

"This cannot be the case that the Alliance does not understand that these measures will be left without a response from our [Russian] side. The question arises, what will happen next? A new wave of NATO speculations about the Russian threat and approach to the next round of arms race? In our opinion, this is a road to nowhere," Grushko told journalists.

NATO ministerial meetings have not been sending any positive signals for the Russian-NATO dialogue since the 2014 summit in Wales; the alliance is focused on the all-round containment of Russia despite talks on being ready for dialogue, Grushko added.

"Despite all claims about openness to dialogue, at the present stage NATO in fact is primarily focused on developing deepening its policy of comprehensive military and political containment of Russia."

An example of such an approach is the fact that NATO and the United States continue exploring the Black Sea waters while frightening the international community by the Russian ships in the international waters, Grushko said.

"While frightening the public by the movements in the international waters of the Russian ships which are en route to the Mediterranean to carry out anti-terrorism tasks, NATO and, above all, the United States continue an active exploration of the Black Sea waters with ​​its multifunctional combat platforms, which have a serious strike and missile potential," he stressed.