NATO has been building up conventional armaments in Europe all the time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
United Russia deputy Andrei Kartapolov said this, reports a correspondent of PolitNavigator.
In 1991, NATO’s total quota in Europe was 19,096 tanks, 31,787 armored vehicles, 19,529 field artillery guns, 7,273 aircraft and 2,282 helicopters.
As of mid-2007, taking into account NATO expansion, the alliance’s total weapons strength was 22,424 tanks (plus 3,000), 36,576 armored vehicles (plus 5,000), 23,137 artillery systems (plus 3,500) and 8,338 aircraft (plus 1,000).
Russia has not increased armaments by a single machine gun,” Kartapolov said.
According to him, now the situation in Europe in the field of conventional weapons is not just worse, it is catastrophic.
The expansion of the Alliance has created direct military threats for the Russian Federation. In 1991 there were 16 countries in NATO, now there are 31. Finland’s accession to NATO and the agreement with the United States, which provides the basis for the deployment of American forces on Finnish territory, is a serious threat to our northwestern flank.
Sweden is on the verge of joining. The bloc’s military infrastructure is not just close to our borders. The Baltic Sea, in fact, is now an internal NATO sea.
At the same time, the USA continues to pump Ukraine with weapons. NATO is practically fighting on the side of the Kiev regime. It seems there are no thinking people left in the bloc’s leadership,” Kartapolov said.