The actions of Western countries in the Black Sea go beyond certain limits, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As for the Black Sea, the latter is generally going beyond certain limits: strategic bombers are flying 20 kilometers from our state border, they are known to carry very serious weapons," the head of state said at an enlarged meeting of the Foreign Ministry board on Thursday.
Russia will respond adequately to NATO's military activity near its borders, the Russian president said. "NATO has proactively broken all mechanisms of dialogue. Of course, we will react adequately to NATO's military activity on the perimeter of Russia's borders," he stressed.
The president stressed that Russia does not need conflicts on its western borders. "Our recent warnings [to Western countries] still make themselves felt and have a certain effect. A certain tension has arisen there after all," he said.
"We need to make sure that they keep this state of mind as long as possible, so that they don't get the idea of setting us up in our western borders with some conflict that we don't want. We do not need any conflicts," Putin said.
According to the president, Western partners take Russia's warnings and words about red lines very superficially.
"Yes, we constantly express our concerns about this [action in the Black Sea] and talk about red lines, but of course we understand that our partners are very peculiar and, how should I put it mildly, treat all our warnings and talk about red lines very superficially," the head of state said.
He noted that Russia must seek serious guarantees of its security from the West. "It is necessary to raise the issue <...>. Sergey Viktorovich, we need to raise the issue of Russia providing serious, long-term guarantees for our security in this direction," the head of state said to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting of the Foreign Ministry's collegium.
Overall, Putin is concerned about the growing number of conflicts in the world. "Unfortunately, the number of [regional] conflicts and crisis situations in the world is multiplying, requiring more and more attention and a prompt response," the head of state said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS