NATO Secretary General: Russia's measures against Europrop - an empty waste

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogg Rasmussen called a waste of money possible Russian measures to counteract the Europrop missile defense system, which NATO creates in Europe. He told reporters before the EU summit in Brussels, RIA Novosti reports.

“I repeat that our missile defense system is exclusively defensive, it provides the protection of the population of our countries from missile strikes. Our system is not directed against Russia. Therefore, it is unjustified to take retaliatory measures against our system of the pro. In addition, it will be a waste of resources, investments against an artificial enemy that does not exist because we have no intention of attacking Russia,” Rasmussen said.

The decision on the placement of Iskander-M missile systems in the Kaliningrad region has not yet been made, we have not yet made such a decision. Let them calm down, ”Putin said.

Earlier on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin at a press conference said that Iskander-M missile systems are an answer to Europrop , and not the most effective and not the only one. Iskander is not the only way of our protection and reaction to the threats that we see around us. Iskander is only one of the elements of a possible answer, far from the most effective, although in his segment this is the most effective weapon in the world, ”Putin said.

Putin noted that Russia's representatives "have talked many times about what about the threat to us, the threat of our nuclear potential." “One way or another we will have to respond to this. And my predecessor still spoke about this - as one of the options for responding to the Proxer complexes in the Kaliningrad region. There is nothing new here,” the president said. At the same time, he noted that the final decision on the placement of the Iskander in the Kaliningrad region has not yet been made.

The day before, the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that Iskander-M will be placed where the country's leadership would consider necessary . “Recently, a big noise rose that we were putting the Iskander somewhere in the wrong place. In the territory of the Russian Federation we want, we put it there,” the Minister of Defense said. In addition, according to him, Russia has something to respond to Europrop. “We don’t sit just like that, we don’t look. Our science, designers and factories, believe me, work very effectively. And the weapon that the Russian army possesses, it is powerful, mobile and effectively. We have something to answer,” Shoigu said.

The minister urged not to believe the rumors that Russia is weak and nothing could. “Believe me, this is not true,” he said.

Moscow extremely nervously reacts to the US intentions to deploy a missile defense system in Europe. The Russian authorities believe that this can violate nuclear parity. In January 2012, in the election speech dedicated to the international situation, Putin cited the problem of as an example of the United States to cooperate in equal terms with other countries.

In February, the Russian Permanent Representative of NATO, Alexander Grushko, said that the lack of consent in the field of missile defense between Russia on the one hand, both Europe and the United States on the other, could negatively affect the cooperation of Russia and NATO in all other areas. "Everyone has an understanding that the issue of the pro is a key that determines for the very quality of the interaction of Russia and NATO," he said.

The American side has repeatedly stated that the Europrop system was not directed against Russia. In October 2011, US Tosher's deputy Secretary of State for Arms and International Security, US Tosher's readiness to give written guarantees about this. "The proceedings that we create in Europe are not directed against Russia. We talked about this in publicly and in closed negotiations, at many levels. We are ready to fix this position on paper," the deputy community said.