Russia slams NATO for anti-missile deployment in Europe

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sunday slammed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its anti-missile deployment in Europe, saying the bloc continued to deliberately ignore the action's negative consequences and risks for the entire Euro-Atlantic security system.

The ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States and NATO in a statement of "deliberate actions to change the existing balance of force, including the forced implementation of the U.S./NATO anti-missile plans in Europe."

"Contrary to the objective interests of maintaining peace and stability in Europe, as well as the need for uniting all responsible international players to fight real and not contrived modern challenges, the alliance focuses on the containment of a non-existent 'threat from the East,'" Zakharova said, commenting on the NATO summit held in Warsaw on July 8-9.

There have been "completely exaggerated" attempts at demonizing Russia in order to justify the steps taken toward a military buildup in Europe and divert attention from NATO's "destructive role" in provoking crises and instability across the world, she said.

"We expect NATO's detailed explanations regarding its enforcement in all directions during the upcoming Russia-NATO Council's meeting at the level of permanent representatives due July 13," the spokeswoman said.

On the first day of the Warsaw summit, NATO acknowledged the initial operational readiness of the anti-missile shield, which in fact means that NATO can officially take command of the component of the missile defense system, located in Romania. Endi