Russia to respond to NATO's strengthening at its western frontier: Russian defense chief

NATO reinforcement near Belarus-Russia Union's borders forces Russia to take defensive countermeasures, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

"The U.S. and other NATO members are actively building up their offensive potential near the Union's western boundaries by opening new bases and developing military infrastructure. They keep making attempts to impose their will on other countries with the use of economic and political diktat and military force. Open informational warfare is going on," Shoigu said at a joint board meeting of the Russian and Belarusian Defense Ministries, local media reported.

The defense minister said a high level of bilateral interaction and identical positions on the key problems of global and regional stability between the two countries make it possible to successfully reinforce the Union's defense potential.

Shoigu stressed Russia is paying great significance to providing the units of its Western Military District with modern weapons and military hardware and regularly conducting combat training exercises.

The defense minister said that Russian enterprises had completed a major overhaul of anti-aircraft missile systems S-300PS, previously transferred to Belarus free of charge.

The parties adopted an action plan of Belarus and Russia in the defense sector by 2018. Endit