Interfax: Shoigu: NATO doubled intensity of trainings near Russian borders

(Interfax – June 29, 2016)

NATO has dramatically intensified the number of trainings near the Russian borders, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

“The intensity of the trainings of the NATO armed forces conducted in direct vicinity of the Russian borders has more than doubled,” he said at a Russian Defense Ministry collegium meeting on June 29.

“We do not rule out that, following NATO’s summit in Warsaw, the scope of the alliance’s military presence and military activity near Russian borders might grow significantly,” Shoigu said.

Naval ships of the U.S. and other NATO countries regularly enter the Black and Baltic Seas, he said.

“The military-political situation near the western borders of the country remains unstable. The U.S. and other NATO members continue increasing the military potential, primarily in the countries that are Russia’s neighbors,” Shoigu said.

Last summer the Russian Defense Ministry said that the North Atlantic Alliance was holding about 150 exercises near Russian borders a year, while in 2012-2013 there were 90-95 exercises. Before that the chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, pointed to an upsurge in NATO’s military activity near Russian borders.

[featured image is file photo from different occasion]