Deputy Defense Minister: NATO’s Task is to Drive Wedge Between Russia and Its Allies!
- NATO’s task is to drive wedge between Russia and its allies – deputy DM!
by http://voiceofrussia.com/
Russia could not build an equal partnership and mutually advantageous cooperation with NATO, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.
–
“The Russia-NATO Council was created for ‘all-weather’ discussions that could be conducted even if relations between our countries deteriorated,” he told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview to be published on Tuesday, April 22. However, “what we encountered during the crisis in Ukraine showed that this forum is not working,” he added.
–
“There is moral pressure and an attempt to convince people that ‘Russians are bad’ and therefore they should look up to European democracy. They are talking about some military-technical assistance, about sending advisers and increasing the number of joint exercises. NATO has only one task to pursue — to drive a wedge between Russia and its allies, to tear us away from each other,” Antonov said.
–
“The Ukrainian events proved that NATO needs us only when we carry out a policy that suits them. Unfortunately, we could not build an equal partnership and mutually advantageous cooperation with the alliance,” Antonov said.
–
“Brussels was engaged in the policy of containing Russia before, too, but was trying to do so under the guise of a good guy. Now we’ve got the impression that they have simply found a pretext for implementing far-reaching plans,” he said.
–
“They have all got fixated on one thing only: Moscow is threatening the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. And NATO must respond immediately. As a result, the alliance is continuing to build up its military presence near the Russian border,” the deputy defense minister said.
–
“In the past they kept telling us about some training bases for soldiers and officers before they go to ‘trouble spots’. Now they are not even hiding the fact that these will be permanent NATO military formations. No matter what they call them — bases, contingents or formations — their essence will remain the same: military capabilities will appear near the Russian border,” Antonov said.
–
read more!


end