Moscow, April 2.- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is systematically strengthening its military potential along the Russian borders, from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea, declared the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, in an interview with the Russian newspaper Argumenti y Fakti.
“Even the term 'NATO's eastern flank' has appeared in speeches by leaders and documents of the bloc, which includes all the Eastern European countries bordering Russia and ally Belarus, as well as Romania and, more recently, Sweden. and Finland,” Patrushev said during the talk on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the war bloc.
“The leaders of the alliance do not hide the fact that the largest military maneuvers near the Russian borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Steady Defender-2024, which are being carried out in Europe, are aimed precisely at 'containing' to Russia. Last year alone, NATO and its Member States conducted 130 coalition and more than 1,000 national military exercises and drills. Observe, not in a decade, but in a year, 2023,” he indicated.
Furthermore, he opined that the plans of the United States and the so-called Atlantic Alliance include preserving Ukraine, or at least part of it, "as an anti-Russian territory entirely under their control, completely dedicated to serving the interests of the bloc."
“NATO is training mercenaries in several countries”
“NATO instructors are training mercenaries and saboteurs in several countries for participation in anti-Russian operations,” Patrushev said.
The senior official stressed that the war bloc takes an active part in organizing bombings of Russian territories and makes decisions on new deliveries of weapons with greater long-range capabilities to kyiv. “In fact, the Atlantic Alliance is part of the Ukrainian conflict,” he stressed.
According to Patrushev, the recent statement by the head of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, about the bloc's preparation for an open conflict with Moscow is in line with all his policies.
“In March, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presented an annual report on the organization's activities over the past year. "The entire document focuses on the main task of 'containing' Russia and, notably, China, which means that the Atlantic Alliance did not hesitate to go beyond its geographical mandate and openly declared its global ambitions," the head noted. of the Russian security secretary.
The long-term strategic objectives of the United States, the United Kingdom and “the countries of the collective West under their control,” Patrushev insisted, are to “weaken our country as an economic and political competitor and subsequently eliminate it from the political map of the world through of its dismemberment.”
“For this reason, officials in Brussels identified our country as the main source of threats to European security and explicitly enshrined it in NATO's strategic concept,” summarized the senior security official. (Text and photo: Sputnik)
