Kremlin: Presence of rotational NATO troops near our border violates the NATO-Russia treaty
The Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, Sergei Ivanov, said that the deployment of rotational NATO battalions close to Russia's borders is a violation of the agreement between NATO and the Russian Federation.
"It makes no difference whether a unit is permanent or it changes, say, every six months. For example, first there were Spaniards and then Portuguese arrived in their stead. In fact they came the day after the Spaniards left so combat readiness does not change. If you switch the summands, the sum doesn’t change. It is a good school rule,” Ivanov said in an interview with "Russia" state TV channel.
Vice-Secretary of the Russian Security Council Yevgeny Lukyanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti that "Moscow's response will be symmetrical to any of NATO’s activities regarding strengthening the eastern borders of the alliance." According to him, such a response would be "adequate, effective and within the budget."
Russian authorities refer to the NATO-Russian Founding Act, signed by the parties in 1997. It stipulates that NATO will not deploy its troops on a permanent basis on the territory of new member countries of the alliance. Poland has been a member of NATO since 1999.
On Monday, June 13th, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed the alliance's plans to strengthen the eastern flank, deploying four battalions to Poland and the Baltic countries.
Earlier, the Minister of National Defense for Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, said that at the summit in Warsaw a decision would be made to send one battalion of the alliance—one thousand soldiers—to Poland and one to each of the three Baltic countries.