The joining of Montenegro to NATO will lead to a response from Russia

The joining of Montenegro to NATO will lead to a response from Russia, Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov said.

"Moscow has always said at various levels that the continuing expansion of NATO, the NATO military infrastructure eastward, of course, cannot help but lead to a response from the east, that is, from Russia, in terms of ensuring security and maintaining a parity of interests," he told reporters, commenting on the NATO decision to begin negotiations on the accession of Montenegro to it.

Simultaneously, Peskov said it is now too early to speak about a specific response measures taken by Russia.

"Let us remember that the president has not expressed his opinion, let us wait not for expert opinions but for certain official statements which will be made, whether they be made by the Foreign Ministry, our Defense Ministry or the head of state," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He was asked whether statements of Federation Council representatives regarding Russia's response to the accession of Montenegro to NATO were the official position of Russia.

Peskov said that no statement was pending as of yet. "No, nothing concrete is pending. We have different priorities now," he said.

NATO has decided to begin negotiations on making Montenegro the 29th member of the alliance.

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