OREANDA-NEWS. NATO defense ministers will discuss at a planned meeting on February 12-13 how the alliance will respond to Russian nuclear and conventional missiles. This was announced on Tuesday by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference in advance of the meeting.

"We will discuss our response to the full range of Russian missile systems - conventional, nuclear and missiles under development", he said. Stoltenberg accused Russia of violating the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) and added that "NATO member countries are united" in this assessment. “We agreed on a balanced and coordinated package of measures”, he added.

According to the Secretary General, NATO considers it necessary to create new arms control measures in the face of new Russian missile systems. "We are deeply convinced that the best answer is effective arms control. We do not intend to deploy missiles in Europe, but we must ensure security in Europe in the presence of Russian missiles", he said.

Stoltenberg once again emphasized that NATO is a defensive alliance and is responding to the strengthening of Russia. "NATO has begun to respond to this. We have increased our presence, our ground capabilities are being strengthened. We have begun the process of adaptation to NATO", he said.