Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin has called NATO a "relic of the Cold War era."

Putin said Wednesday during a question and answer session in Parliament he does not understand why NATO still exists decades after the end of the Cold War, but said Russia still needs to cooperate with it AP reported.

Putin also defended the Kremlin's decision to provide airbase facilities for the alliance's operations in Afghanistan, but said it will not be a military base.

Relations between Russia, the United States and NATO have soured over U.S.-led NATO missile defense plan that Washington says is aimed at deflecting a potential Iranian threat. Moscow fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent.