The Kremlin on Wednesday defended its decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, rejecting criticism of the move by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the U.S.-led transatlantic alliance was the one expanding towards Russia, not the other way round, and therefore Moscow had to take steps to defend its own security.
Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Russia's move belied a recent joint Russian-Chinese statement that said countries should not deploy nuclear weapons outside their borders.
"It is NATO that is expanding towards Russia, not Russia that is taking its military infrastructure towards the borders of NATO," Peskov said on Thursday, when asked to respond to Stoltenberg's remarks.
(Reuters)