Russia Accuses US Of Threatening Its National Security; Warns Of Need For Nuclear Arms For Protection
When earlier this month, Russia suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons grade plutonium in response to what it said were “unfriendly acts” by the United States, it was mostly an act of window dressing: there was little in execution terms left under the treaty and the announcement was mostly symbolic, hinting at the ongoing deterioration in diplomacy between the two powers. However, when it was reported on Friday that Russia had deployed nuclear-capable Iskander SS-26 missiles to Kaliningrad in immediate proximity to central Europe in response mostly to recently encroaching behavior by NATO, things got decidedly more serious and will likely leed to even further retaliation by NATO and western powers.
So to clarify Russia’s precarious position vis-a-vis the US, earlier today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state TV’s First Channel that he had detected “increasing U.S. hostility towards Moscow and complained about what he said was a series of aggressive U.S. steps that threatened Russia’s national security.”
The interview, which according to Reuters is likely to worsen already poor relations with Washington, Lavrov blamed the Obama administration for what he described as a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Russia ties.
“We have witnessed a fundamental change of circumstances when it comes to the aggressive Russophobia that now lies at the heart of U.S. policy towards Russia,” Lavrov told Russian state TV’s First Channel.
“It’s not just a rhetorical Russophobia, but aggressive steps that really hurt our national interests and pose a threat to our security.”
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