“Numerous flare points of tension are being set up along our borders, while the US and its NATO allies are building up their offensive capabilities and ramping up their military presence in Europe in direct vicinity of our borders,” Patrushev said during a lecture at the State Marine Technical University of St. Petersburg.
Russia has long protested against what it describes as Western attempts to encroach on its territory, including by bringing former Soviet republics and countries once in its orbit in Soviet times into the NATO military alliance.
In August 2014, the United States moved to preposition tanks and transport vehicles in a Cold War-era mountain storage facility in Norway’s central Trøndelag region.
Russian officials interpreted the move as a response to the Ukraine crisis.
In June 2015, Moscow warned that it would boost its forces on its Western flank should the United States store heavy arms in the Baltic states and eastern Europe.
