MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - NATO is strengthening its military infrastructure in the direct vicinity of the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, adding that the military-political situation is difficult.
"The forward presence of the NATO bloc near the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus is increasing, its military infrastructure is being improved, reserves of weapons, military hardware, and physical resources are being created, and the redeployment of troops is being practiced," Shoigu said at a joint board meeting of the defense ministries of Russia and Belarus on Wednesday.
"Specifically, an armored brigade of the ground forces of the United States and four multinational battalion tactical groups have been transferred to Poland and the Baltic states. Headquarters of the coalition divisions of the Alliance have been formed in Romania, Poland, and Latvia. The capacity of port and aerodrome infrastructures is increasing," Shoigu said.
"The NATO Response Force has practically doubled, increasing from 25,000 to 40,000 troops," he said.
"Washington is placing Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in Romania and Poland. The universality of their launch systems makes it possible to use, along with these counter-missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and prospective attack weapons developed by the Pentagon," Shoigu said.
He emphasized the importance of the offline meeting with Belarusian colleagues in spite of the pandemic due to the difficult military-political situation.
"Today, we will discuss vital issues related to interaction between our defense ministries. The organization of a meeting in an offline format despite the continuing pandemic emphasizes the importance of our meetings in the difficult military-political situation," Shoigu said.