MINSK, August 18. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance has reverted to Cold War-era patterns in its relations with Russia, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ main military and political directorate, told an anti-fascist forum in Minsk.
"At the [NATO] summit in Vilnius in July 2023, the North Atlantic bloc reverted back to Cold War attitudes toward Russia once and for all," the senior Russian military official said at the Second International Anti-Fascist Congress. "In the summit communique, Russia is mentioned as ‘the most significant and direct threat’ to the alliance’s security. The collective West is reluctant to reconcile itself with the emerging multipolar world order and it is set to defend its hegemony by all means, including military ones," he added.
Goremykin recalled NATO’s decision to deploy 300,000 allied troops in a month’s time if any of the allies is threatened, allowing for forward based units to engage in combat within three days. "Measures have been envisaged to provide long-term support to Ukraine and upgrade the Ukrainian army to bring it in line with NATO standards. In addition, Kiev has been promised supplies of more up-to-date, long-range weapons," he maintained.
The West has been pumping the Kiev regime full of weaponry, demanding that it conduct what he said was a suicidal counteroffensive and show tactical successes, despite heavy losses in manpower and equipment, while doing its utmost to prolong and escalate the conflict, Goremykin lamented.
"NATO has been using the Ukraine crisis to enlarge its forces. The alliance has launched another expansion. The military infrastructure is being modernized in Eastern and Central Europe, and strike weapons are being deployed there. The Polish general command has announced a beefed-up military presence near Poland’s borders with Belarus and Russia," he said.
According to Goremykin, Moscow and Minsk have to take response measures amid heightened threats and increased NATO activity near the borders of the Russia-Belarus Union State. Russia’s decision to deploy non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus was a critical move, he said, recalling a remark by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned that Moscow would use all available means to respond to any act of aggression against Minsk.