Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky:
“The new defense strategy of Great Britain is sustained in an indicative Russophobic vein. London, thus, follows the general aggressive course of the NATO countries.
Russia is pursuing an independent policy, but at the same time it does not threaten anyone and does not interfere in the affairs of sovereign states with the aim of changing regimes that are objectionable to someone. The British authorities deliberately continue to maintain artificial tension, inventing a “spectrum of threats.”
At the same time, one cannot but be alarmed by the plans to build up the nuclear potential of the United Kingdom. Russia has made a lot of efforts to ensure nuclear deterrence in the world, in particular, most recently – within the framework of the extension of the Russian-American START Treaty.
Such statements only confirm the fears about the possibility of increasing the total potential of the nuclear powers that are members of the North Atlantic Alliance (the United States, Great Britain and France), expressed by the Russian side of the previous American administration during negotiations on the prolongation of the START Treaty. Now Washington, during the change of power in the White House, has taken a more constructive position. However, the adoption of such defense strategies by his closest ally clearly does not contribute to building a common line to ensure strategic stability and security on the planet. “