British contingent's deployment to Baltic region brings NATO closer to Russian borders

October 8, 2015 Interfax, Interfax

The UK will send a military contingent to the Baltic republics to strengthen the defense of the NATO eastern borders.

British Ghurkas attend the multinational NATO exercise Saber Strike in Adazi, Latvia, June 11, 2015. Source: Reuters

The UK will send a military contingent to the Baltic republics to strengthen the defense of the NATO eastern borders in collaboration with U.S. and German units, and to help the Baltic republics deter a potential Russian aggression, The Financial Times reported on Oct. 8.

The deployment of British military servicemen is not conducive to stability on the European continent, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing on Oct. 8.

"What has been happening lately doesn't make the region more stable. On the contrary, in my view, this poses a threat to the region's stability," Zakharova said when asked to comment on reports on the deployment of British servicemen in the Baltic region.

At the same time, she said, "it's necessary to hear and understand the motives behind these steps."

"The far-fetched pretext of an alleged threat coming from Russia seems to be the main camouflage for plans of NATO's further expansion towards our borders," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Oct. 8. "We cannot help but regret this," he said.

"Naturally, any plans to bring the NATO military infrastructure closer to the Russian borders will be counteracted for the sake of restoring the necessary parity," the Kremlin press secretary said.