Russia sees no grounds for concern over US plans to re-deploy the military forces from western European countries to former Warsaw Treaty Organization member-countries, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday.

"I do not see any reason for concern about these plans," Ivanov,who was visiting Russia's Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

"I would comment on this in a calm manner," he noted.

He said US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had informed him about these plans during their last week meeting in St.Petersburg.

"This decision has been prompted by the fact that the United States does not need any unwieldy bases with a large number of tanks and low mobility capabilities," he said.

He said that Russia plans to create similar bases in armed forces, and one of them has already been set up at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan.

"It enables us to promptly step up our efforts in all directions in danger," Ivanov said.

US President George W. Bush announced Monday plans to withdraw 60,000 to 70,000 troops from bases in Europe and Asia over the next 10 years, as part of a global military realignment.

While Bush provided little details, government officials said some of the troops would be shifted to posts in Eastern Europe, and a significant part would be redeployed to bases in the United States.

Source: Xinhua