If NATO countries want to cooperate with Russia, the alliance must accept the peacekeeping role of the Russian Federation, said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko at a press conference following the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on January 12 in Brussels. The broadcast was conducted by the TV channel “Russia 24” and media platform “Watching”…
Grushko recalled that practically the entire history of NATO, despite the statements about the “defensive” nature of the bloc, is the history of wars, interventions that left traces in the form of destroyed states and millions of refugees. Russia stopped wars, as was the case in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria.
“If NATO countries really want to cooperate with us, they must accept this important role of the Russian Federation as a country that guarantees peace in the vast Euro-Atlantic space and which makes a critical contribution to maintaining peace and stability,” he stressed.
A senior Russian diplomat also said that today Russia and NATO have no unifying positive agenda, as a result of the alliance’s decision, all practical cooperation in areas of common interest has been suspended.
Russia is also concerned about the fact that the United States and its allies are conceptually and technically lowering the ceiling on the use of nuclear weapons. The guarantees offered by Moscow will improve the security not only of Russia, but also of NATO countries, “especially those that today call themselves front-line,” Grushko said.
According to him, NATO is allocating colossal resources for the task of containing Russia. These tasks are placed at the forefront of NATO policy and military development. It is not hidden that this is the main purpose of the alliance.
“And this fact in itself has a destructive effect on any attempts to build common European security on other principles,” said the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia.
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