The west is driving Russia towards her red line, making no alternative other than to act" as declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin while addressing an extended session of the collegium of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Western countries are using a false Russian threat to frighten their populations while pushing Moscow to its red line and forcing a response, Putin said on Monday, adding that the West wages hybrid wars and pursue a policy of containment concerning states they oppose, including Russia.
He said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is stepping up military spending, deploying strike groups near Russia's borders, and boosting the number of US troops in Europe, with the total now over 100,000, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said the bloc is also strengthening its presence in the Asia-Pacific region while forming US-led military alliances that weaken the region's long-standing security architecture.
"US plans to develop and ready high-precision ground-based weapons with a range of up to 5,500 km for deployment in forward zones are worrisome," Putin said, threatening that if the US intends to continue with the deployment of such missiles, Russia will rescind its unilateral restrictions that it had previously undertaken in the context of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
At the same time, he noted that the Russian army and navy are being modernised, and 95 per cent of the country's strategic nuclear forces are now equipped with modern weapons.
Putin said the mass production of the country's new Oreshnik intermediate-range missile systems will begin in the near future.
He said that strategic nuclear forces are the key to maintaining sovereignty and territorial integrity, and stated that it is also "of importance to maintain non-strategic nuclear forces in a constant state of combat readiness and continue. conducting exercises to exercise their use".
He told reporters that if the U.S. goes ahead and deploys such missiles Russia will respond by lifting all voluntary restrictions it has applied to its own missile deployments.
The Russian president further emphasized that the country's nuclear arsenal is meant only for deterrence, underlining its strategic value in maintaining balance.
Putin also highlighted the continued progress of Russian forces in Ukraine, claiming that 189 settlements had been brought under Russian control this year.
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