SOCHI. Oct 22 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said that NATO's de facto military presence in Ukraine poses a real threat to Russia.
"That threat [from NATO] is of significant importance for us. [Ukraine's] formal membership in NATO may not take place, but the military development of the territory is already under way. And this really poses a threat to the Russian Federation," Putin said at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi.
At the same time, he drew a parallel with the situation of the late 1980s related to the unification of Germany, when everyone was saying that after the unification of Germany, in no case would NATO's infrastructure be expanded, and that Russia should be sure of that. "So they said, and there were public statements. But what in practice? They deceived. And now they say: where are the papers, show them," the president said.
"So, they expanded it once and expanded it twice, but what are the military and strategic consequences? Infrastructure is getting closer. For example, in Romania and Poland, they have deployed missile defense systems, but with launchers on which Tomahawks - attack systems - can be mounted. And it can be done easily, at a click, you just need to change the software and that's it," he said. "Of course, we noticed this," the president added.