Moscow vows to respond to possible U.S. armament deployment near Russian border

Russia would respond appropriately if the United States or other NATO countries deploy heavy weapons in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, a senior Russian military official said Monday.

General Yuri Yakubov said the real deployment of any heavy hardware "including tanks, artillery systems, or other fighting vehicles" would be the most aggressive step made by the U.S. and its NATO allies since the Cold War.

With regard to Russia's possible reactions, Yakubov said,"First of all, the group of forces along Russia's entire western perimeter will be reinforced, including new tanks, artillery and air force units."

"The missile brigade in the Kaliningrad will be speedily rearmed with anti-aircraft Iskander systems, the Russian combined-arms group in Belarus will be significantly modified...Things like that," Interfax news agency quoted Yakubov as saying.

Western media recently reported that the U.S. was considering deploying missile systems in Europe.

According to Poland's Ministry of National Defense website, the U.S. is considering the deployment of heavy armaments in Eastern Europe. Poland is one of the considered places of deployment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Monday refused to comment on the U.S. deployment plan or Russia's possible responses, since "no official announcement was made by the U.S. side." Endi