MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will take adequate responsive measures, even reconfigure its armed forces, if the stationing of forces along its borders poses a threat to its security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov told Interfax on Monday.
Four of the seven countries that are to join NATO shortly, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia, have not joined the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, so "a gray zone" has been created in which no restrictions are imposed on weaponry in direct proximity to Russia's borders, he said.
"If we feel that the situation poses a tangible threat to our security and calls for an appropriate response, there will be such a response," Chizhov said when asked whether Russia will reconfigure its armed forces in the Northwest.
Commenting on the arrival of four NATO F-16 fighter planes and components for an air defense system in Lithuania, he said that "four planes in Lithuania will not in themselves change the balance of forces, but this is a symbolic event that does not make us overjoyed."
"We see danger not in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania obtaining vast numbers of tanks and fighter planes overnight. We are concerned about the possibility of armies of third countries being in direct proximity to our borders," Chizhov said.
The interview will be posted in full on March 30 at www.interfax.ru.