Kosachev called NATO expansion a security issue for Russia

As the head of state noted earlier, he does not consider talks about Ukraine's joining NATO to be "chatter".

“NATO enlargement is a process that radically contradicts not only the agreements at the time of the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and NATO.

This process radically contradicts the spirit and letter of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, which contained the principle of the indivisibility of security in Europe.

The security of Europe cannot be carried out on a bloc basis.

This principle is spelled out in this charter and all NATO members at that time signed it, ”Kosachev said.

He noted that for Russia the expansion of NATO's external borders is a "red line", since it is a matter of the country's security.

“For Russia, of course, the approximation of NATO's external borders to our borders by 500 km over these thirty years, and NATO has expanded its territory by about a third since 1990, this is not only a political, but also a military threat to our national interests and our national security and defense.

There is no doubt about this, you do not need to be a military specialist for this, ”the vice-speaker concluded.

Earlier, the Russian leader recalled that the flight time of NATO missiles to Moscow in the event of Ukraine joining the alliance could be reduced from 15 to 7-10 minutes.