NATO Focusing on “Containing” Non-Existent “Threat from the East”: Zakharova

MOSCOW— Moscow expects explanations from NATO on the Alliance’s decision to bolster its eastern flank at the upcoming meeting of NATO-Russia Council, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday, according to Sputnik.

“The Russian side is carefully examining the decisions made at the July 8-9 NATO summit in the Polish capital,” Zakharova said, stressing that Moscow “expects detailed explanations on NATO’s reinforcement in all directions from the representatives of the Alliance at the regular meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the level of permanent representatives on July 13.”

 She added that Moscow is also interested in Brussels’ position regarding Helsinki’s initiative on the aviation safety over the Baltics.

According to Zakharova, NATO is concentrating its efforts on “containing” some non-existent “threat from the East.”

“Contrary to the objective interests of maintaining peace and stability in Europe, and the need for gathering the potentials of all the responsible international actors in countering real and not contrived challenges of our time, the Alliance focuses on containing a non-existent threat from the East,” Zakharova told reporters, commenting on the NATO summit held in Warsaw on July 8-9.

“The stark imbalance in strengthening NATO’s flanks amid unprecedented levels of terrorist threat coming from the southern direction, testifies to the increasingly apparent detachment of the bloc’s policy from [understanding] really pressing needs for protection and security of NATO member states’ citizens,” Zakharova noted.

The primary analysis of the Warsaw summit conclusions shows that “NATO continues to exist in some military and political mirror world,” she added.

At the same time, NATO continues to ignore security risks posed by the forced deployment of its missile defense systems in Europe, Maria Zakharova added.

“Long-term negative consequences and risks posed to the entire Euro-Atlantic security system, which have emerged as a result of deliberate actions by Washington and Brussels directed at changing the given balance of power, including the accelerated implementation of US/NATO’s missile defense plans in Europe, are still being consciously ignored,” Zakharova said.

There are attempts to demonize Russia, which are aimed at justifying the steps taken toward a military buildup in Europe and obscuring NATO’s “destructive role” in spreading instability across the world, she added.

Sputnik

H.M