‘Expansionism and destabilization’: Russia lashes out over NATO spearhead force in E. Europe
Moscow has accused NATO of using the Ukrainian crisis as a “pretext” to “push its military presence closer to Russia’s borders,” and says that plans for a new rapid response force will sabotage the peace process in eastern Ukraine.
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“The [expansion] plans have been harbored by NATO for a long
time, and recent events have served as a pretext to put them into
action,” said a statement published on the Russian Foreign
Ministry’s website, following the wrapping up of the NATO summit
in Wales.
“Together with the rhetoric at the summit, and the planned
military exercises before the end of the year, this will increase
tension, destabilization the nascent peace process, and further
widen the division in Ukraine,” the ministry’s statement
said.
“The above is also testament to NATO’s unconditional support
for the extremists and neo-fascists in Kiev, including the Right
Sector political movement,” it stressed.
During the two-day summit, the 28 NATO member states instituted
the creation of a rapid response unit numbering at least 4,000.
It could be deployed in Eastern Europe – where it will be based –
in less than 48 hours.
The primary stated reason for the initiative is “Russia’s
aggression against Ukraine.”
Russia’s NATO envoy, Aleksandr Grushko, also denounced NATO’s
policy, suggesting that the alliance was engaged in “Cold War
thinking,” and risked undermining the landmark 1997 treaty
in which Moscow and Brussels officially proclaimed that they were
no longer “adversaries.”
In a TV interview, Grushko said that NATO was “flexing its
muscles,” and pointed out that an increased presence of NATO
vessels in the Baltic and Black Sea would destroy the recently
built-up level of trust in what were once the potential
flashpoints in the standoff.
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Grushko also called the planned NATO-Ukraine exercises a
“provocation” because “foreign troops will appear in
a country that is fighting its own people.”
“NATO must play no role in the Ukrainian conflict,” the
official told Rossiya-24 network.
He also accused the US of “trying to unload the financial
burden of maintaining NATO onto its allies.”
Despite the harsh rhetoric, Moscow left room for potential
cooperation with NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, which the
foreign ministry said is an “efficient mechanism for consultation
and developing common approaches.”
“We will continue to cooperate with the alliance, providing
it takes our national interests into account,” Grushko
stressed.
NATO cooperation with Russia has been suspended since March,
following the ascension of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
