Russia Will Build Military Bases In Response To NATO Moves

Moscow, May 20: Russia has announced that it will set new military bases in the western portion of the country, in what Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu described as “adequate countermeasures” to counter Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

Shoigu said that the bid by the two Nordic countries to join NATO military alliance was among several military threats that have increased in recent years along Russia’s northwestern border.

Shoigu said that those threats also included the United States stepping up strategic bomber flights, sending warships to the Baltic Sea and intensifying training exercises in the region with its NATO partners. Shoigu said that “By the end of the year, 12 military units and divisions will be established in the Western Military District”, which will be accompanied by a surge in military equipment and weapons.