Russia Will Not Give Up Kaliningrad: Ryabkov - "We Will Protect It by All Means Necessary"

Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. forces in Europe and Africa and head of NATO ground forces, said in July that the Alliance planned to quickly neutralize the defense potential of Russian forces in the Kaliningrad region, RIA Novosti reported.

Donahue noted that NATO countries are implementing a plan for a “deterrence line” along the Alliance’s eastern flank, which includes strengthening land capabilities and improving military-industrial cooperation within NATO.

"The Kaliningrad region is an integral part of our country and is in no way subject to discussion in any other context. We will ensure its security by all necessary means," Ryabkov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV.

Earlier, in an interview with RIA Novosti, the Assistant to the Russian President and President of the Naval College, Nikolai Patrushev, emphasized that any military incursion into the region would be met with an immediate and devastating response using all available forces and means, by Russian military doctrine and nuclear deterrence policy.

Commenting on Donahue’s statement, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all such remarks are carefully analyzed, and that NATO’s hostile stance towards Russia forces the country to take appropriate measures to ensure its security.

"We Will Not Be the First to Escalate"

"Russia will never tolerate methods of blackmail and pressure from an adversary, will not be the first to escalate, and will act in the sphere of the Medium- and Short-Range Missile Reduction Agreement in a preventive manner to guarantee its security," Ryabkov said in an interview with Rossiya-1.

"In what we do regarding the Medium- and Short-Range Missile Agreement, as well as in military development in general, our steps are guided by the need to ensure our security. We respond to what our adversaries and opponents regard as attempts to pressure, coerce, blackmail, or dictate terms to Russia. We will never accept that," Ryabkov emphasized.

He stressed that Russia would not be the first to escalate the situation.

"If the price of our response to this policy is an increase in tensions, then call it ‘escalation’ if you wish, but we will not be the first to escalate. That is my point. There are cases when we must act preventively, anticipating certain steps by a potential adversary, and in those cases, we certainly will," the diplomat added.

Ryabkov said that Russia will not engage in raising the stakes in the field of arms control.

"We are experiencing a pace of change that was unimaginable just a few years ago. The impulsiveness with which Washington makes decisions certainly does not help; it is an additional factor complicating the situation. But there is no impulsiveness on our part. We act with consistency, firmness, and cold calculation, weighing all options in depth. We will do everything to avoid artificially raising the stakes or giving in to emotions in a negative sense," Ryabkov said.

According to him, one cannot allow emotions to dictate actions in this field.

"We must be highly responsible and act in a way that increases the chances of achieving a productive outcome, rather than driving them to zero," he said.

Ryabkov added that Moscow’s announcement of lifting the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles appeared to have had a sobering effect on the West.

"The muted and incoherent public reaction of this group to our announcement was surprising, though expected. We have completely reliable sources confirming that the desired result was achieved, and that the effect was sobering," Ryabkov said.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously stated that there are no longer conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range ground-based missiles, and that Russia no longer considers itself bound by its previously adopted self-imposed restrictions.