Kremlin says NATO treats Russia as “enemy” and will closely monitor summit

July 11 (Reuters) – The Kremlin accused NATO on Tuesday of treating Russia as an “enemy” and said it would closely monitor any decision made at a two-day summit of the Western military alliance and respond with measures. not specified to protect your own safety. .

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that he expected his leaders meeting in Vilnius to send a “positive message” to Ukraine on its path to eventual NATO membership.

Moscow has cited NATO’s eastern expansion as a key factor in its decision to invade Ukraine nearly 17 months ago.

“Russia is perceived by them (NATO leaders) as an enemy, as an adversary. It is in this sense that the discussions (in Vilnius) will take place,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference. regular press.

“We are monitoring this very carefully because much of what has been said will be subject to in-depth analysis in order to take steps to ensure our own security,” he added.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in separate comments, said Moscow was taking “appropriate” steps in anticipation of further NATO expansion. He did not elaborate.

NATO leaders in the summit in the Lithuanian capital, he is preparing to approve the alliance’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Moscow.

Diplomats also said differences were narrowing between the allies over Ukraine’s push to join NATO, although Kiev will not be invited to join as long as the war continues on its soil.

‘VERY DANGEROUS’

“Potentially this issue (of Ukraine joining NATO) is very dangerous for European security… and therefore those who will make the decision should be aware of this,” Peskov said.

He said European leaders did not seem to understand that moving NATO’s military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders was a mistake.

Amid a flurry of remarks by senior Russian diplomats ahead of the Vilnius summit, Konstantin Gavrilov, a top Vienna-based Russian security negotiator, accused the United States of fueling the conflict by dumping weapons into Ukraine.

In an interview with Russia’s state-run RIA news agency, Gavrilov said Europe would be the first to face “catastrophic consequences” if the war escalated further. He did not specify what those consequences would be.

Peskov said Sweden’s expected NATO membership would have “negative implications” for Russia’s security and that Moscow would have to respond. Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Helsinki formally joined the alliance in April.

Sweden is set to become NATO’s 32nd member after Turkey abandoned its opposition on the eve of the summit.

Peskov downplayed the Turkish move, saying Ankara had to fulfill its obligations as a NATO member. He added that Russia would continue to develop relations with Turkey, which unlike its NATO allies has refused to impose economic sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Information from Reuters; Written by Gareth Jones; Edited by Lincoln Feast, Alex Richardson, and Alexander Smith

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