In response to a statement by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, commented that "amid the calls for military deterrence in Russia, NATO is consistently pulling its forces to our borders."

"The German defense minister must know well how such moves in the past ended for Germany and Europe. There can be only shared security in Europe, without infringements on Russia’s interests. However, it is NATO that is unprepared for an equitable dialogue on this issue," Shoigu pointed out.

"Moreover, the implementation of NATO’s deterrence plan in Afghanistan ended in a catastrophe that the entire world is now dealing with," Shoigu said.

Earlier, the German Defense Minister warned European countries against separating from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), calling on France and the European Union (EU) to overcome "illusions" of future autonomy from the US.

The Minister's statement came after Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, announced that Russia is suspending the operation of the NATO information office in Moscow as of November 1st.