Russia calls NATO aggressive and ensures that its expansion does not intimidate it

Although it is Russia's intervention in Ukraine that has triggered the current world conflict, the Kremlin continues to insist on its thesis that NATO, with its policy of expansion, is the source of all evil.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
29 June 2022 Wednesday 20:54
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Russia calls NATO aggressive and ensures that its expansion does not intimidate it

Although it is Russia's intervention in Ukraine that has triggered the current world conflict, the Kremlin continues to insist on its thesis that NATO, with its policy of expansion, is the source of all evil. The forthcoming entry of new partners into the Alliance, precisely what Moscow wanted to prevent with what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, is for Russia "a destabilizing factor". And he assures that, being "a powerful power", the mobilization of the allies cannot intimidate it.

To the declaration of Russia as a "direct threat" to security, made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Sergey Riabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, responded yesterday Wednesday that "the Madrid summit consolidates the aggressive tendency to contain to Russia by the Atlantic bloc.

The diplomat took advantage of the fact that Sweden and Finland seem to have achieved a rapid entry into NATO in the Spanish capital to recall Moscow's position. “We consider the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to be purely a destabilizing factor in international relations. It does not add security neither for those for whom it expands, those who join, nor for the countries that perceive the Alliance as a threat,” the diplomat told Russian media.

The Russian position is diametrically opposed to that of the Stockholm and Helsinki governments, which have decided to abandon decades of neutrality precisely because of Russia's actions and the decision of its president, Vladimir Putin, who sent the armed forces to Ukraine in February.

One consequence of that is now the incorporation of the two Nordic countries into the Western military alliance. That will increase Russia's common border with NATO by 1,300 kilometers, which is the length of the border separating Russia from Finland.

In addition, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced in Madrid an upcoming increase in the American military presence in Europe due to tensions with Russia. Riabkov assured that it is something that Moscow is not afraid of. "Those who propose such decisions are under the illusion that they can intimidate Russia, contain it in some way: they will not succeed," the deputy minister assured.

Senator Andrei Klimov expressed himself in a similar way. According to him, Russia is such a powerful politico-military power that, in a global strategic sense, the incorporation of Sweden and Finland into NATO is something that will not matter.

Even so, on Tuesday, Dimitri Peskov, a spokesman for President Putin, said that NATO is "a fairly aggressive block", so the Russian Defense Ministry is developing emergency plans on the country's western borders in response to the new strategic concept of the Alliance, which among other measures has also increased the number of rapid response forces in Europe.