Moscow, June 22 (RHC)-- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will take adequate measures to counter NATO's increasingly “aggressive rhetoric.”  In an address to the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, Putin said that Russia must work to strengthen its combat readiness at a time when NATO is expanding and moving its infrastructure towards Russia's borders.

Putin also called for the creation of an international security system void of “bloc-like thinking” and open to all countries.  “Russia is ready to discuss this extremely important issue,” he said, adding that such proposals have been so far left unanswered by Western countries.

Putin’s remarks come as the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw in early July is set to put the “Russian threat” high on the agenda.  On Tuesday, Vladimir Komoyedov, the head of the Defense Committee of Russia's State Duma (lower house of parliament) dismissed remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who accused Moscow of violating ‘the Fundamental act of NATO-Russia.”

Komoyedov said that the accusations do not bear scrutiny, saying it is actually the Western military bloc that is constantly boosting its potential near Russian borders.  NATO has stepped up its military build-up near Russia’s borders since it suspended all ties with Moscow in April 2014 after the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula re-integrated into the Russian Federation following a referendum.