Putin accuses the West of taking Russia's "red lines" too lightly

President Vladimir Putin has said the West is taking Russia's warnings not to cross its "red lines” too lightly and accused NATO of destroying all mechanisms for dialogue with Moscow.

In a wide-ranging televised foreign policy speech on Thursday, Putin also described relations with the United States as "unsatisfactory" but said Russia remained open to talks with Washington.

The Kremlin said in September that NATO, the U.S.-headed transatlantic security alliance with which Moscow severed ties last month, would overstep a Russian red line if it expanded its military infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine.

Moscow has since accused Kyiv and NATO – of which Ukraine is an ally but not a member – of destabilising behaviour, including in the Black Sea.

Putin said Western strategic bombers carrying "very serious weapons" were flying within 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) of Russia's borders.

"We're constantly voicing our concerns about this, talking about red lines, but we understand our partners – how shall I put it mildly – have a very superficial attitude to all our warnings and talk of red lines," he said.

Putin said Russia needed to seek long-term guarantees of its security from the West, though he said this would be difficult and did not spell out what form the assurances should take.

Russia-West ties have been at post-Cold War lows since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula and a war broke out between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

(CGTN)