Russia outs plan to stop NATO

A Russian Navy ship fires missiles in the Crimean city of Sevastopol recently. PHOTO BY AFP

Moscow- Russia aims to boost the strategic positions of its navy on the Black Sea and seek to maintain an Atlantic and Mediterranean presence, according its latest naval doctrine which has been revised over NATO’s “inadmissible” expansion.

Published Sunday on the Kremlin website, an updated version of the Russian Navy’s doctrine came half a year after a revised military doctrine that dramatically reflected deteriorating relations with the West.

NATO was already seen a major threat in an earlier version of the doctrine published in 2010, but the war in Ukraine has further raised tensions to levels not seen since the Cold War.

The new navy document underlines “the inadmissible character of the Alliance’s plans to move military infrastructures towards its borders. The Russian text sets targets of “developing infrastructures” for its fleet at the Black Sea in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin also highlighted “the accent put on the Atlantic and the Arctic” in the new doctrine.

“Our attention towards the Atlantic is justified by the expansion of NATO in the East,” he told Russian news agencies.

The doctrine also stipulates the aim of “guaranteeing an adequate military naval presence for Russia in” the Atlantic region.

NATO agreed in February to dramatically boost its defences in eastern Europe and a force of 5,000 troops, to counter what the alliance called Russian aggression in Ukraine.