Army not threatening anybody: Russia’s Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that his country’s military is not a threat and would not be attacking anybody.
“Our Armed Forces are not threatening anybody…I would like to stress once again, to make sure everyone hears – not only people in this hall,” said Putin while giving a speech in Russia’s Yaroslavl on Saturday.
Referring to claims that Russia might attack other countries, especially its neighbors in the Baltics, Putin asked, “Why would we do this?”
“We have the biggest territory in the world, like I said, everyone knows it, and we need to provide effectively security for our own country, for our own people,” he added.
He noted that Russia’s armed forces are perfectly capable of providing security, and that developing the forces will continue. He also hailed efforts made so far to make the military “efficient… modern and highly effective.”
“The number of military drills has increased multiple times, including snap checks, which for some reasons from time to time worry our counterparts, let’s call them as such for now," he added.
He added that other countries' drills do not worry Russia. The Russian army must be “compact, but highly effective. Thus we shall continue the structural reform, and we shall keep optimizing the personnel, but without any mass cuts."
Putin’s remarks come at a time that NATO aims to send “battle groups” to the Baltic states and Poland early next year. The groups will consist of 40,000 forces. It will be the biggest military buildup near Russia since the Second World War. More forces would also be deployed if necessary.
NATO suspended all ties with Moscow in April 2014, after the then-Ukrainian Crimea Peninsula voted in a referendum to join Russian territory.
Russia warns Israel against airstrikes near its airbase in Syria
Iran, Russia, Turkey condemn Israeli atrocities in West Asia
Russian air defenses shoot down 70 Ukrainian drones
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Yemeni protesters call for military mobilization against Israel
VIDEO | Art festival honors Martyr Tehrani Moqadam’s legacy
Borrell urges sanctions on Israel for war crimes
VIDEO | Top Iranian delegation in Beirut for talks
UN calls on Israel to allow unrestricted access to Gaza to deliver aid
‘Arab Nelson Mandela’ released after 40 years in France
VIDEO | Jordanians condemn Israel’s ban on UNRWA activities in occupied Palestine
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
