Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday Moscow is always ready to protect its security in the wake of NATO's further expansion and the build-up of the alliance's activity near Russian borders, TASS reported.

"Interaction in the struggle against terrorism does not contribute to the build-up of NATO's activity on our borders and the expansion of its military infrastructure to the Russian borders. This is what we also discussed at the Russia-NATO Council," the Russian foreign minister added.

"I want to stress that Russia will always be able to defend its interests and ensure the security of its citizens," Lavrov said.

The minister said Moscow ready to work with NATO to ensure security in Europe and to address the problem of terrorism.

"Russia is interested to have relations with the all countries of Europe and the European Union based on principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit and oriented towards common strategic interests of all countries of our common continent," he said. "We uphold the same positions in our relations with NATO."

Source: MENA