Russia warns against NATO anti-missile system buildup

Unrestricted buildup of NATO's missile defense system would force Russia to take responsive measures to protect its strategic containment potential, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. "The U.S.-European anti-missile system has been building in the parameters defined in Washington, which as the Russian leadership repeatedly said, could create a threat to Russian strategic nuclear forces by the end of the decade," Lavrov said in his speech to students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He said that NATO and the United States did not guarantee that the system would not be used against Russia. "Military experts understand that non-restricted one-sided buildup of the missile defense capabilities would require the other side to compensate to protect its potential of strategic containment," Lavrov said. He reminded that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered in 2008 to sign a legally binding treaty about European security. Besides, Moscow has not yet received any explanations from NATO about the block's eastward expansion, Lavrov said. Moscow has long opposed the deployment of NATO missile defense facilities near its borders, saying they would be a security threat to the country and upset the strategic balance of force in Europe.