Defense Ministry warned of preconditions for conflicts in Europe – RBK

Deputy Defense Minister Fomin: NATO’s ignorance of Russia’s position is fraught with conflicts

Ignoring the position of Russia on the part of NATO is fraught with the emergence of new conflicts and incidents, leading to the undermining of the security architecture in Europe, which has already degraded in recent years. As reported by the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin told representatives of the alliance at the talks in Brussels.

He noted that “Russian-NATO relations are at a critically low level. “This is happening against the background of global instability, terrorist threat, the deployment of another arms race, as well as the complete degradation of the security architecture in Europe,” the Deputy Minister continued.

“The Russian side has repeatedly offered the alliance to take measures to de-escalate the situation. On the part of the alliance, Russian initiatives were ignored. This creates the preconditions for incidents and conflicts, undermines the foundations of security, ”the press service of the Ministry of Defense quotes Fomin as saying at the talks.

He named three key problems on the solution of which all efforts should be concentrated:

• Guarantees that NATO will not expand eastward at the expense of Ukraine and other countries.
• Pledges not to deploy new US intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe.
• Limiting military activity in Europe, excluding the buildup of so-called forward-based contingents.