Russia Accuses NATO of Pushing for Preemptive Strikes [Video]

A suggestion by a NATO chief that the alliance should target Russia’s missile launch sites has been condemned by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov responded to remarks made by Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, about how the alliance can deal with the threat posed by Russia.

During a question-and-answer session after his address at the European Policy Center in Brussels, Bauer said, “The idea was we are a defensive alliance, so we will only sit and wait until we are attacked, and then when we are attacked, we will be able to shoot down the ‘arrows’ that come to us,” referring to a Russian strike.

He also said that when responding to any attack, it would be “smarter” to “attack the archer, that is…Russia—if Russia attacks us. So you need to have a combination of deep precision (strikes) with which you can take out the weapons systems that are used …