Moscow: Any further expansion of NATO will be met with a Russian response

Sergey Ryabkov.

(archive)

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will receive a response from Moscow.

"Every action has a reaction, and accordingly, it is no longer possible to look at the sharp deterioration in the security situation that has occurred in recent years without specific measures on our part," Ryabkov told reporters, according to Sputnik news agency.

He added that "further expansion (of NATO) will be met with an appropriate compensatory response from Russia."

He continued, "Do the countries that are striving to join NATO really need to join it? Ultimately it is up to them, but we will draw conclusions for ourselves, as we have done so far."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance, noting that this would increase the alliance's presence in the far north, which Moscow sees as a signal from NATO aimed at confrontation.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned, on several occasions, that further expansion of NATO will not give Europe more security.

In recent years, Russia has announced unprecedented NATO activity along its western borders.

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