A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday (4) that military exercises carried out by NATO near Russia’s borders are proof that the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with the country.
The statement, according to a report released by CNN, is from Russian spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who rejected NATO accusations made this week that Russia was involved in hybrid attacks on its member states.
For her, the situation was misleading “disinformation” designed to distract people from the alliance’s activities, since it would be NATO that would wage a hybrid war with Russia, supporting Ukraine with weapons, intelligence and money.
“Right now, NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender, is taking place near Russia’s borders. According to your scenario, the coalition’s actions against Russia are being carried out using all instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons,” Zakharova said in a statement.
“We have to admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a ‘potential conflict’ with us,” he added.
When announcing the start of the exercises in January this year, NATO said that 90,000 soldiers would take part in a series of joint exercises in which they would work through the scenario of a “Russian attack” on one of the 31 member countries.
This exercise was announced by NATO as the largest carried out since the Cold War, and should take place until the end of May.
At the time the rehearsals began, Russia said the exercises marked an “irrevocable return” of the alliance to Cold War schemes.
