The Public Chamber of Russia Discussed Trends in the Development of Relations between Russia and NATO

 

On 3 April 2019 a regular meeting of the Russian Public Council for International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy was held at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on the topic Relations between Russia and NATO - Current Development Trends. The event was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of NATO.

 

Council members and invited experts discussed the prospects for reducing tension between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance.

 

- “The history of relations between our country and the NATO bloc showed that it had both an anti-Soviet and anti-Russian orientation which has only increased over time. This position remains unchanged regardless of what government is in power in Russia. NATO has always considered the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation to be a geopolitical enemy number one,” said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Chairman of the Council, Deputy Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, adding that NATO can exist only in the conditions of the Cold War.  According to him, the far-fetched deterrence policy is a clear cover that the NATO bloc uses for its aggressive intentions, and its policy can hardly be called defensive, especially bearing in mind the "creeping expansion" of the bloc to the East.

 

- “More and more frequently we see NATO ships that enter the Black Sea almost on a regular basis. Their obvious goal is to reach the Sea of Azov and confront us with the fact that our country is surrounded from the south. When asked whether there are nuclear warheads on these ships, NATO does not answer us”, he said. Sergei Ordzhonikidze drew attention to the fact that if the missiles on the ships still exist, "then they can reach Moscow."

 

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Grushko explained in detail the current position of Russia regarding the actions of NATO, as well as how the transformation of the modern architecture of European security is perceived in Moscow.

 

 

Yuri Baluevsky, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, retired, said, - “The Cold War is not over. If we analyze publications in the media, Western and ours, I am intimidated by how it is being actively pursued, it is about to enter an  active phase which cannot be stopped. I am convinced and ready to prove that the war between Russia and the USA has never stopped,” he continued.

 

Vice-Admiral, Russia's chief military representative to NATO in 2002-2008, Valentin Kuznetsov noted that the peak of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Alliance fell precisely during these years. However, in 2008 NATO unilaterally suspended the work of the Russia-NATO Council, putting a full stop to this cooperation. He said that over the past two years, the number of NATO rapid reaction forces at the borders of Russia has increased from 25 thousand to 40 thousand.