MOSCOW (Reuters) – NATO’s four-month military exercises near Russia’s borders, known as Steadfast Defender, are proof that the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said. Russian Foreign Affairs this Saturday.
Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova this week rejected NATO’s accusations that Russia is involved in hybrid attacks on its member states, saying it was misleading “disinformation” designed to distract people from the alliance’s activities.
It was NATO that waged a hybrid war with Russia, supporting Ukraine with weapons, intelligence and finances, she said in a statement.
“Right now, NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender, is taking place near Russia’s borders. According to its scenario, the coalition’s actions against Russia are being practiced using all instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons,” she said in a statement. declaration.
“We have to admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a ‘potential conflict’ with us.”
Relations between Russia and the West have been more hostile in recent decades following the start of Russia’s military conflict in Ukraine in 2022.
When announcing the start of the exercises in January, NATO said that 90,000 troops would participate, rehearsing how US troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance’s eastern flank if a conflict escalates. . The exercises, NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War, are scheduled to last until May.
Russia said at the time that the exercises marked an “irrevocable return” of the alliance to Cold War schemes.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Frances Kerry)
