75th anniversary of NATO

On April 4, 2024, NATO will turn 75 years old. The organization will celebrate its anniversary in a big way. The celebrations will culminate with a summit of the Alliance in Washington, D.C., July 9-10, which will be attended not only by the bloc's member states, but also by its partners. NATO's "advertising" campaign under the slogan "All for one, one for all" has been launched.

The North Atlantic Alliance was created in 1949, as its first Secretary General Lord Ismay noted, to "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". NATO played a key role in the bloc confrontation during the Cold War. After its end, it has long sought new tasks for itself. The alliance engaged in "peacekeeping" in the Balkans (Read in full: War Crimes of NATO in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia, the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The forces of the international coalition, the majority of which were NATO member states, carried out a "humanitarian" intervention in Libya. The "search for itself" ended in failure for the North Atlantic bloc, which instead of peace and stability brought only destruction and victims to other countries. Gradually, including under pressure from the Eastern European countries that joined the military alliance, the alliance began to return to the key task of the Cold War - deterrence of a comparable opponent, for which Russia was again appointed.

NATO's Strategic Concept, adopted at the 2022 Madrid Summit, describes Russia as "the most significant and direct threat to Allied security, peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO is countering Russia across all geographic areas and operational environments. Coalition capabilities are being built up in space and cyberspace. The alliance's "eastern flank" is being pumped with new assets and forces. New regional defense plans have been developed. Thanks to NATO efforts, the Baltic and Black Seas have been transformed into zones of geopolitical rivalry with Russia. Tensions are growing in the Arctic region.

Ukraine, which has become the main arena of confrontation with us, is being transferred weapons on a scale that almost exceeds the capabilities of NATO countries. As a result of their use, civilians are being killed and civilian infrastructure is being destroyed. At the same time, the losses among Ukrainians are of no importance to NATO. For the alliance, they are just expendable material in achieving its geopolitical goals.

The alliance's aggressive behavior is not limited to actions against Russia. NATO has finally taken over the European Union, essentially turning it into its economic appendage. The North Atlantic bloc is intensively exploring all five operational environments - land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. Claiming to be a global guarantor of international security, NATO seeks to extend its influence beyond the Euro-Atlantic space. In order to form coalitions of "small geometry" with not only anti-Russian but also anti-China orientation, it is pulling like-minded countries, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, and is trying to pull India to its side. It is looking for new partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Seeks to break traditional ties in the post-Soviet space and drive a wedge between Russia and its partners.

Such alliance activity offers no positive agenda and does not contribute to the maintenance of peace and security. On the contrary, it undermines international stability and creates security threats to alternative centers of power to the West, especially Russia.

At the same time, the process of expanding the alliance itself is not complete. "Our doors still remain open," NATO declares. In 2023.

Finland joined the bloc, followed by Sweden in March 2024. Euro-Atlantic integration is being pushed hard on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO membership is promised to Ukraine and Georgia in accordance with the decisions of the 2008 Bucharest summit.

With Finland's accession to the bloc, our line of contact with the alliance has doubled. The situation in the North of Europe has changed radically. A previously peaceful and quiet region is turning into a space of geopolitical rivalry.

This can lead to a multiplication of the risk of unintentional military incidents in all spheres. At the end of 2023, Finland, Denmark and Sweden also signed bilateral defense cooperation agreements with the United States. U.S. troops will be deployed in the region and will operate there under their own laws, not subject to local authorities.

The scale and frequency of the bloc's military exercises near Russia's borders are increasing. NATO's training activities involve units not only from member states but also from the bloc's partners.

In spring 2024, from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea, the alliance will conduct the largest maneuvers since the Cold War - Steadfast Defender.

They involve about 90,000 people, 50 ships, including aircraft carriers, and a significant amount of military equipment.

The North Atlantic bloc does not hide the fact that during the "Steadfast Defender" the tasks of "repelling the Russian threat" are being practiced.

The fact that NATO is preparing for a conflict with Russia is constantly stated by both the leaders of Western countries and the alliance's own functionaries. European leaders intimidate their populations with an "imminent" Russian attack. They are already talking about the return of compulsory conscription and the creation of territorial defense units from local residents.

All this is against the backdrop of calls for Russia to "de-escalate the situation".

Russia has not threatened and does not threaten any NATO country. On the contrary, the North Atlantic bloc is moving its military capabilities towards our country and creating threats to our security. We are monitoring the development of the situation. On the basis of its analysis, appropriate political and military measures are being taken to ensure the security of our country.

For many years, Russia has been trying to build equal cooperation and partnership with the North Atlantic bloc. In 2002, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was established, which was supposed to become an "all-weather" platform for discussing any disagreements. We had mutually beneficial practical cooperation projects, such as training for Afghan security forces, the Airspace Cooperation Initiative, retraining of retired military personnel, joint peacekeeping, and others. However, NATO did not perceive Russia as a full-fledged partner. The aspiration for a "strategic partnership" between Russia and NATO, which was outlined at the NRC summit in Lisbon in 2010, has never been fleshed out.

The NATO Council's decision in April 2014 to cease practical cooperation and political dialog finally reversed the entire positive agenda in relations between Russia and the alliance.

The United States and its allies did not support any of Russia's initiatives aimed at creating a common and indivisible security space in Europe. They refused to ratify the adapted CFE Treaty, scuttled the Treaty on European Security, did not discuss the draft Agreement on the Foundations of Russia-NATO Relations, avoided providing guarantees that the missile defense system would not be directed against Russian nuclear forces, and did not accept our proposal for a mutual moratorium on the deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. We made our last attempt in December 2021, when we submitted to Washington and Brussels draft treaties on Russia's security guarantees. Their key elements were the rejection of NATO expansion, the deployment of strike weapons systems near Russia's borders, and the return of the bloc's military capabilities and infrastructure in Europe to the 1997 positions.

On the whole, rectification of relations with the alliance in the medium term, and possibly even in the long term is unlikely. We did not destroy them. It is not for us to suggest ways of restoring them. Nevertheless, we will be ready for constructive dialog and interaction with the sensible leadership of Western countries in order to build a sustainable system of European and global security. It is clear that without Russia this process is doomed. At the same time, we emphasize that such work should be based on the principles of equal and indivisible security, equal rights and mutual consideration of interests.