President Vladimir Putin's warnings to NATO allies are "unacceptable" and do not help efforts to calm tensions, the alliance said on Friday, a day after the Russian leader announced an array of new nuclear weapons.
Already angry at NATO's expansion eastwards into its old Soviet sphere of influence, Putin said in a speech on Thursday that any attack on Moscow's allies would be regarded as an attack on Russia itself and draw an immediate response.
While it was unclear which ally Putin had in mind, the US-led NATO said the speech, one of the Russian leader's most bellicose in years, did not help calm tensions that have surged since Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea four years ago.
Russian statements threatening to target allies are unacceptable and counterproductive.
- NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement.
The Crimea crisis has given NATO a new sense of purpose, but the alliance insists its new deterrents in the Baltics and Poland are defensive.
"We do not want a new Cold War or a new arms race," Lungescu said. "All allies support arms control agreements which build trust and confidence, for everyone's benefit."
One particular sore point for Moscow is NATO's US-built missile defense umbrella across Spain, Poland and Romania, which the alliance says is designed to shoot down Iranian rockets.