Putin slams NATO for boosting presence in Eastern Europe

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has sharply increased its presence in Eastern Europe, a development that has driven Russian strategic forces to remain in high combat readiness, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

The North Atlantic alliance is no longer trying to disguise its "aggressive nature" behind "defensive formulations," and U.S. doctrinal documents clearly demonstrate that the country is seeking global superiority, said the president during his speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board.

The Kremlin has long viewed NATO's eastward expansion as a major concern that affects the direction of its foreign policy to a large extent. It has consistently raised objections to NATO but Putin thinks they went unheard in the West.

Putin has said that he was forced to launch its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022 because Russia's security demands were not met as NATO continued its eastward expansion.

The bloc has "sharply increased" its military activity, deployed forces close to Russia's borders, and has been increasing its troop presence in Eastern and Central Europe, the president said during his Tuesday speech.

"Finland ... has already been drawn into NATO, and Sweden is planning to join," he said, noting that this would essentially lead to the bloc's further expansion towards the East, something that the alliance had previously promised not to do.

Putin stressed the country's nuclear triad should continue to maintain the highest level of combat readiness amid the changing nature of military threats.

He said that the share of modern weapons and equipment within the country's nuclear triad has now reached 95 percent, and "almost 100 percent in the naval component."

Putin said that 15 launchers with Yars and Avangard intercontinental ballistic missiles will enter combat duty by the end of the year, as well as four Tu-160M missile carriers.

As for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he reiterated that the country will continue to pursue its goals set out within the framework of the special military operation, adding that Russian forces are currently maintaining their initiative on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Russian leader further said Ukraine is suffering heavy losses and has largely depleted its reserves, as it tries to eagerly demonstrate its results to the West following its counter-offensive.

(With input from Xinhua)