Russia not a threat to NATO, Putin says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia is not a threat to NATO, President Vladimir Putin says.

"Only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO," Putin told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, according to BBC News.

The Western alliance is bolstering its military presence in its eastern European members in response to their fears of Russian threat, following its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

NATO says that Russia is backing rebels in Ukraine - a claim denied by Moscow.

Early this month, NATO pledged to counter "hybrid warfare" from Russia - which included a mixture of conventional military tactics, subversive campaigns and cyber-warfare that Russia was using in Ukraine.

In his interview with Corriere della Sera, Putin said some countries were "simply taking advantage of people's fears with regard to Russia" in order to receive "some supplementary military, economic, financial or some other aid".

"There is no need to fear Russia," Putin said.

"The world has changed so drastically that people with some common sense cannot even imagine such a large-scale military conflict today. We have other things to think about, I assure you."