Lavrov said that Bauer had "bluntly stated" that "to achieve the goals of protecting and defending the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, it is necessary to preemptively strike at those targets in the Russian Federation that, in NATO's opinion, could pose a threat," according to Russian state news agency Tass.

"Our country has the right to target military facilities of states that attack us," the Russian official said.

As tensions over the Ukraine war escalate, the UK has warned of potential Russian cyberattacks on NATO allies. UK minister Pat McFadden highlighted the threat of Russia’s AI-driven assaults on UK’s critical infrastructure like power grids.