Increasing NATO Forces Near Russian Borders Will Only Increase Tensions - MoD

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, has told NATO Allied Command Operations' Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti that NATO presence near Russian borders was not reducing tensions, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The military commanders have exchanged opinions on the situation in European and global security. Gen. Valery Gerasimov has noted increasing NATO military presence near Russian borders, which does not promote a reduction of tensions. The sides have informed each other about the most important operational training activities planned for 2019. They have confirmed commitment to maintaining contacts," the statement read.

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Gerasimov and Scaparrotti held a meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

The relations between Moscow and the alliance remain tense, as Washington announced that the United States would suspend its INF Treaty obligations, while NATO foreign ministers collectively declared for the first time that Russia’s 9M729 missile violates the INF treaty and that it was now up to Moscow to preserve the accord. Russia, however, denied those accusations, stressing it was just a pretext for the US to leave the treaty.