MOSCOW, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Foreign Minister Sergei Shoigu said Saturday terrorism is the main threat to Russia but NATO missile defense systems in the region are also a threat.

In an interview with Russia-1, the state-owned television channel, Shoigu said NATO's continued installation of military infrastructure around Russia is a major threat, RIA Novosti reported.


But he said the worst threat is the expansion of terrorist groups fighting in global "hot spots."

"It may sound stale and banal, but look who is really fighting in Syria, in Mali, in Libya," Shoigu said, calling international terrorism Russia's "main foe."

Shoigu said Russia continues to oppose bids by Georgia and Ukraine, both formerly Soviet republics, to join NATO.

He said NATO has refused to reconsider installation of missile defense systems in Poland and Romania.

"This continuing expansion, in our opinion, is completely unfounded," Shoigu said. "We are talking and talking, and smiling to each other, but it's still going on."