Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new security strategy on Thursday that calls the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) a threat to Russia's national security, reported The Washington Times.
The document claims that Russia's domestic and foreign policy has triggered a "counteraction" from the United States and its allies in the form of military buildup near its borders, which is a threat to Russia.
"Russia's strengthening is taking part on the background of new threats to national security that have a complicated and interlinked character. The independent domestic and foreign policy conducted by Russia triggers counteraction from the US and their allies seeking to keep up their domination in global affairs," the paper says.
"The buildup of the military potential of NATO and vesting it with global functions implemented in violations of norms of international law, boosting military activity of the bloc's countries, further expansion of the alliance, the approach of its military infrastructure to Russian borders create a threat to the national security."
The BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent, Bridget Kendall, believes that Russia is using its interventions in Syria and Ukraine to display its military clout so that the West will treat Russia as an equal partner and acknowledge its interests. Specifically, Kendall says Russia wants the right to treat its post-Soviet neighbors as part of its sphere of influence without any involvement from NATO.
A NATO official told CNN that the group "will study this strategy closely. That said, we categorically reject totally unfounded claims that NATO and its policies constitute a security threat to Russia."
"NATO enlargement is not directed against anyone," the official said. "Each sovereign nation has the right to choose for itself whether it joins any treaty or alliance. This is a fundamental principle of European security that Russia has also subscribed to and should respect. NATO's Open Door has been a historic success - the fall of the Berlin Wall."
