Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov claimed that NATO is more active near Russia's borders than Russia itself.
Antonov accused the Western alliance of using the conflict in Ukraine "as a pretext" to "move on, closer to Russia's borders."
"NATO activity is much higher than that of the Russian armed forces," he said.
At the same time, Antonov said NATO activity "is not posing any serious threat to the security of the Russian Federation."
"The Russian armed forces are acting appropriately and remain prepared for any turn of events," he said.
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has criticized the Western response to "crude violations" of a cease-fire by Russian-backed rebels who ignored the truce deal to seize the strategic town of Debaltseve in a major offensive.
Kuchma, Kyiv's representative at sporadic talks involving Ukraine, Russia, the rebels, and the OSCE, spoke to RFE/RL in an interview on March 4.
He said that after the leaders of France and Germany brokered a February 12 deal for a cease-fire and other steps to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, "the Russians...continued the war" with a bloody offensive in which rebel forces took Debaltseve.
"I don't understand the reaction of the international community -- if it is clear and obvious to the naked eye that a peace treaty has been crudely violated, and the reaction is: 'Come on, guys, let's get along.' I don't understand such an approach."
"If we continue to look at what is happening in the Donbas through the prism of such views, I don't think we will achieve the end goal -- and the end goal is peace," he said.