MOSCOW (Sputnik) — German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Thursday there is concern over the possibility of a new arms race unfolding in Europe.
"On our part, there is concern that a new arms race spiral may emerge in Europe," Gabriel said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Gabriel said it was "still a little early to talk about how specifically we could move toward preventing this."
Moscow will not to be drawn into an arms race but will take sufficient measures to strengthen its national security, the speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, said in response.
NATO has been significantly increasing its presence in Eastern Europe after the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 using alleged Russian interference in the Ukrainian internal affairs as a pretext, a claim Russia has repeatedly denied.
Moscow has repeatedly voiced its protests against the NATO military buildup saying that will undermine regional stability and result in a new arms race.
