“In the Baltic countries and Poland, in the waters of the Black and Baltic Seas, military activity is intensifying, the intensity of military exercises of the bloc is increasing. Their scripts point to NATO’s targeted preparation for engaging its forces in a large-scale military conflict, "the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper quoted him as saying.
According to him, since 2016, the states of the North Atlantic Alliance have increased defense spending by $ 130 billion, and by 2024 they plan to increase military spending by another $ 400 billion.
In addition, Gerasimov recalled that NATO has decided to militarize space.
At the same time, as noted in the General Staff, the West at the same time continues to represent Russia as a "threat to peace."
“Any step of Russia in the field of ensuring its military security, any planned and transparent event to build an army and navy, every exercise by Western propagandists and fake media is clearly presented as a“ threat to peace, ”Gerasimov emphasized.
He also expressed concern that such a position would increase tension on the line of contact between Russia and NATO and called for renewed cooperation in order to avoid dangerous incidents in the military sphere.
Earlier, participants in the NATO summit in London called the main threat “aggressive actions” of Russia.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in turn, said that the expansion of NATO and the development of the military infrastructure of the alliance at the Russian borders could potentially pose a threat to the country's security.