Not inordinately concerned, surely not alarmed; merely moderately interested. After all Sergey Lavrov is the paragon of reasoned, restrained, sage diplomacy. Only see how much Russia’s security situation has been improved in the 17 years he’s been foreign minister. Before that U.S. and NATO military assets were no closer to Russia’s borders than Germany and Turkey. Now NATO has strategic air bases in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, and NATO and the Pentagon have troops, armor, strategic bombers, fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft, interceptor-missile destroyers and ground-based interceptor missiles in those nations as well as in the Baltic and Black Seas. Among the countries mentioned above only Hungary and Poland were NATO members when Lavrov assumed his post. Now they all are, as well as six others. Has he ever been worried? Not at all.

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Russia ‘concerned’ by prospect of US intermediate-, shorter-range missiles in Europe, Asia-Pacific

Russia is concerned about US intentions to deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow following a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong, Lavrov said the appearance of such weapons would significantly disrupt strategic stability.

Lavrov then reiterated a proposal by President Vladimir Putin to the US and other NATO members…and also that missile defense bases in Romania and Poland will not be able to be retrofitted to be equipped with attack cruise missiles. [The U.S. and NATO would never misrepresent their intentions or actions – would never lie – according to Lavrov and Putin. They are, after all, Russia’s esteemed and cherished partners and valued and trusted friends.]

On Aug. 2, 2019, the US terminated its participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear (INF) Treaty, which had been widely seen as a cornerstone of European security in the post-Cold War era after the US and Russia signed it in 1987.