Moscow_Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Russia has plans to establish military bases abroad, including in Latin America, Prensa Latina reported today.

'Unlike other nations, we do not favor a military expansion. The creation of bases abroad on behalf of a projection of force, including in Latin America, does not constitute a planned purpose for us at all,' he stressed.

The actions by the West to increase the structures of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) near Russia's borders and to deploy the U.S. antimissile shield in Europe are reasons of great concern for us, he commented.

This year, NATO deployed thousands of U.S. soldiers in Poland and Romania, as well as U.S. Air Force squadrons in the ex-Soviet republics on the Baltic Sea.

In addition, Moscow charged that the MK-41 launching pads and the Aegis Ashore systems, equipped with SM-3 intercepting missiles, threaten its détente capacity, while the possibility of using those facilities to launch Tomahawk missiles violates the regulations of a missile treaty signed in 1987.

Such destructive actions, which violate the principle of indivisible security, only lead to a further escalation of tensions in Europe and the Atlantic, and deepen the dividing lines in Europe, the head of Russian diplomacy noted.

In that context, Russia has taken reasonable measures to increase our defensive capacity and the protection of national interests, Lavrov underlined

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