West News Wire: The enlargement of NATO further eastwards is a red line for Moscow, and Ukraine’s possible accession to the US-led bloc is definitely unacceptable, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
In a statement, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned of “serious negative consequences” if the situation on the border between Russia and Ukraine deteriorates. In recent weeks, there have been constant reports of a troop build-up, with some Western publications suggesting a military fighting is imminent.
“Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has been repeatedly assured that NATO’s jurisdiction and military forces will not move an inch eastwards,” Zakharova said. “All these promises have been forgotten and not fulfilled. The result is the current sad state of European security.”
“We are satisfied that the solely option for resolving the contemporary situation is the joint development of long-term agreements that rule out any in addition NATO advances eastward and the deployment of weapons systems threatening us in the immediate neighborhood of Russian territory,” she continued.
According to Zakharova, the US is dragging Kiev into the navy orbit of the alliance and turning it into a ”bridgehead” of confrontation with Russia. This may want to destabilize Europe, she said.
The spokeswoman’s comments comply with a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga, Latvia in the past this week, the place the theme of Ukraine and the present situations on the frontier with Russia was once the front and center. While the bloc spoke about conceivable sanctions against Moscow, it additionally refused to warranty that it would defend Kiev in case of armed conflict. However, Zakharova believes the alliance is focused on “fighting imaginary threats.”
“One of the pivotal subjects – now not for the first time – was Russia and its ‘possible aggression’ against Ukraine,” she said. “However, if we look at matters realistically, it is NATO that has approached us.”
