Rob Lee

"Military activities are increasing in the Baltic States and Poland, in the Black and Baltic Seas. The intensity of the bloc's military exercises is growing. The scenario [of the drills] signals that NATO is deliberately training its troops for a major military conflict." 23/

"Reducing the risks of dangerous incidents in the military sphere should remain the most important part of the dialogue between Russia and the US/NATO. It is necessary to resume cooperation between Russia and NATO in order to resolve the accumulated problematic issues." 25/

"It is necessary to improve mechanisms of preventing dangerous military activities, including clarifying the protocol for exchanging signals and determining the minimally acceptable distance between military ships and aircraft." 26/

He said that Russia's shipbuilding priority is SSBNs with modern ballistic missiles, and that special attention is being paid to building multipurpose/functional submarines and surface ships equipped with Kalibr, Tsirkon, and other precision missiles. 30/