Moscow hit back at NATO’s decision to expel eight members of Russia’s mission to the military alliance. NATO announced the move Wednesday, accusing the officials of being spies or, as the alliance put it, “undeclared Russian intelligence officers.”
On Thursday, Moscow said the move undermines hopes for the US-led military alliance normalizing relations with Russia. “There is an obvious inconsistency in statements by NATO representatives about their desire to normalize relations with our country and in their actual actions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
NATO also reduced by half the number of officials Russia could have at its NATO mission, bringing it down to 10. “These actions allow us not to develop illusions about the normalization of relations. In fact, these prospects are almost completely undermined,” Peskov added.
Also on Thursday, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg slammed Russia for so-called “malign activity” and said the expulsion was not over any particular event. “This decision is not linked to any particular event, but we have seen over some time now an increase in Russian malign activity, and therefore we need to be vigilant,” he said.
Stoltenberg said the relationship between Russia and NATO is at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War. The NATO chief blamed the low state of relations on Moscow. But since the Cold War ended, NATO has grown from 16 member states to 30, adding countries that border Russia. Now, NATO regularly holds military exercises near Russia’s border and in the Black Sea.
This assumes that NATO cares for or wants normalization.
Of course not. But by acting as an injured party, and incessantly blaming Russia for “malign” activity, NATO seeks to inoculate its population to having any qualms about taking actions against Russia. New stories are piled up on top of old, more elaborate stories, and more to come to keep Russia in the news.
Russia’s best option is to point out to the discrepancy between stated goal of normalization and daily unfriendly actions, This helps Russia internally, as there are still many aging artists, and liberals of various stripes that blame Russia for deteriorating relations.
People in this category are in professions that thrived in the short-lived post-Cold War warm-up in relations. Their bitterness is understandable, and given their need to access Western world — they cannot put blame where it belongs.
Younger generations are much clearer headed. There are no illusions. Life goes on. Old people have dreams, young people have visions.
This consistent Western Russia-bashing has not resulted in Russians blaming their own leadership for the “loss of the West”.
There are old cold warriors in US and UK believing in that world of old Western-style liberals in Russia having power of influencing young, making them feel depraved of opportunities.
This is old and worn out strategy. The result is the tighter alliance with China and the rest of empire-resisting world.
I see no evidence to support NATO’s interest in normalization or peace with Russia whatsoever. I see plenty of evidence of false flag operations, military escalation and provocations. Why would the Russians bother to send a mission to NATO in the first place? As I suspected, this was a remnant from the goodwill surrounding the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 90s. The Neocons (especially their cookie monster, Victoria Nuland) made sure they killed it. For background, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93NATO_relations
Oh for God’s sake!
If there is no Russian threat then North Atlantic countries are completely safe.
Do you need umpty zillion dollar military to protect US and Europe from Iceland?
If Russia is not a threat then they must disband and stop spending money.
Is the MIC going to support that?
Strangely, Holland and Greece are not too keen on joining a Pacific treaty, not in the geographical sense at any event.
The whole NATO raison d’etre is to fight Russia, what are several hundred Generals and Admirals to do when there is no more war?
Everyone knows that Russia would not take Germany, or France or UK as a gift.
With Ukraine their attitude is as in a crockery shop, “You broke it, you pay for it.”
Russia would spend good money to make sure that they never set foot in the US.
China, Russia and Iran have the strategy, “We wanted to play nice, but you guys keep on changing the rules and stealing our ball. It is not our fault that you keep on losing.”