Official: NATO Expansion Threatens Russian Security

A top Russian military official said in Moscow Saturday that Moscow remains staunchly opposed to NATO expansion and views it as a threat to national security.

The Russian leadership "has not changed its position regarding NATO's enlargement," said Valery Manilov, first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

"NATO's enlargement to the east envisages moving the bloc's military component close to Russia's borders and poses a potential threat to our country," Manilov said.

He said Russia would "act toward this threat with means and methods that are inherent in our national policy and possibilities, " the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

"These measures may be asymmetrical, but in any case they will be effective," Manilov said.

Relations between Russia and NATO sank to a record low when the transatlantic military alliance started a 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia on March 24 last year.

Their ties, which thawed somewhat with the recent visit to Moscow by NATO Secretary General George Robertson, remain strained.

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