Earlier, US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the United States to further increase the number of its rotational forces in Europe amid tensions with Russia and could deploy the F-22 fighter to Europe.
“I believe that such a statement needs to be viewed along with other statements of this kind which have been made often as of late. Several days ago there were announcements of some unclear [US] missiles, unclear deployment of arms to unclear warehouses somewhere in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltics. There’s a feeling that our colleagues from NATO countries are pushing us into an arms race,” Antonov told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the Army-2015 international military technical forum outside Moscow.
Media reports earlier in June suggested that the United States was pondering options to deploy land-based missile systems in Europe, capable of suppressing Russia’s nuclear potential.
The possible move appears to be in line with US attempts to boost its military presence along Russia's borders, efforts which were stepped up after the outbreak of a military conflict in Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia.
The Kremlin has persistently denied any involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Moscow has been actively engaged in consultations aimed at bringing peace to the war-torn nation through a political solution.