Andrei Kelin, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department, stated that Russia will not explain about Iskander deployment in Kaliningrad at Russia-NATO Council. Kelin stated that NATO wants explanations about it. The organization wants to know why Russia moved the Iskander-M mobile missile systems.
Moscow has decided to place those weapons in Kaliningrad, a western exclave. Sputnik reports that western countries want to know more about it. At the coming Russia-NATO council both parties will discuss about important and critical issues of bilateral concern. Russians believe that the expansion of NATO is a potential threat.
Many countries that belonged to the Warsaw Pact and even that were part of the Soviet Union have joined NATO. This expansion is seen as unfriendly and aggressive behavior by Russians. Some US politicians believe that NATO is obsolete and expensive for United States.
The Baltic states and other issues
Andrei Kelin stated that Russians are concerned about the deployments that are taking place in the west, mainly in the Baltic states. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have joined NATO some years ago. For decades these countries were part of the Soviet Union. These years the Baltic states have become important allies for United States. The conversations between Russia and NATO will be about exchange of opinions, transparency and removal of the existing concerns. Russia and NATO have also had disagreements because of Ukraine, Syria and other issues.
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave that belonged to Germany in the past. This is seen as a place of vital and key importance. The deployment of the Iskander in that area is seen as the Russian answer to the NATO expansion. Lately Donald Trump wants to increase the US military budget. For decades, Russia and the West had a lot of misunderstandings in their bilateral relations. This was known as the Cold War.
