NATO openly preparing for conflict with Russia – Moscow
The US-led military bloc is choosing the path of confrontation, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko | NATO is no longer hiding that it is gearing up for a potential military conflict with Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said, pointing to this year's Steadfast Defender drills, the bloc's largest maneuvers since the end of the Cold War. ● The US-led military bloc has been expanding eastward for decades, despite assurances given to the Soviet Union in the run-up to German reunification in 1990 that it would not do so. Russia has repeatedly described the expansion toward its borders as a threat to its security. Speaking to RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Grushko said that...
💬 “...now NATO representatives have stopped hiding that they are preparing for a potential armed clash with Russia.” “Regional defense plans have been approved, concrete tasks for all of the bloc’s military command structures have been formulated. Possible options for military action against Russia are being continuously worked out,” the diplomat added. He cited the Steadfast Defender exercise that ran from January through late May, saying that “for the first time, the enemy was not a fictitious state, but Russia.”
While NATO did not specifically name Russia in its announcement of the drills, it called the exercises preparation for a conflict with a “near-peer” adversary. NATO’s main security document identifies Russia as the bloc’s largest threat.
■ Russia to respond if West approves Ukrainian long-range missile strikes – Lavrov (RT.com) | Moscow would trigger a “contingency plan” outlined by President Vladimir Putin if Ukraine receives permission to use Western-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. Putin earlier said that any such strikes would be treated by Moscow as a direct attack by the countries that provided the weapons.
■ Ukraine: Geopolitical Background (Swiss Policy Research)
■ Ukraine War: A Geostrategic Assessment (Swiss Policy Research)
✅ The War's Pivotal Impasse Crystallizes as Russia Cements Negotiation Terms (Simplicius)