Russian general calls US expansion top national security threat

A top Russian general called US plans to post missile defence systems in former Soviet bloc countries a top national security threat, the latest signal of a growing chill in US-Russian relations.

Gen Yuri Baluyevsky, head of the Russian military’s General Staff, said that Russia now faces even greater military threats than during the Cold War, and the nation needs a new military doctrine to respond to these challenges, according to speech posted on the Defence Ministry’s website today.

In the speech, which he gave to a recent security conference in Moscow, Baluyevsky also criticised Nato.

“Russia’s cooperation with the West on the basis of forming common or close strategic interests hasn’t helped its military security,” he said.

“Moreover, the situation in many regions of the world that are vitally important for Russia and near its borders has sometimes become more difficult.”

Russian-US ties have worsened steadily in recent years over disagreements on Iraq and other global crises.

Washington has been critical of the increasingly authoritarian streak in Russia’s domestic policy and strong-arming of ex-Soviet neighbours.