MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. Plans by European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen to turn the EU into a defense union indicate Europe’s intent to militarize and that it is getting ready for confrontation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Commenting on the EC chief’s initiative, the Kremlin official said: "This yet again confirms the intent of European countries toward militarization, the igniting of tensions, confrontation and reliance on confrontation methods in their foreign policy."
Peskov noted that the joint defense and security policy is one of the tracks of shared work within the framework of the European Union. "It has always been like this within the framework of European integration," he pointed out. That said, the Kremlin official stressed that "this has never been the main direction of the European Union’s development." "Apparently, Ms. von der Leyen was talking about a change in priorities and about this union taking on a military approach," he added.
"It is difficult to provide some exhaustive interpretations here but it is obvious that this work will intersect with interaction of EU countries within the framework of the North Atlantic Alliance," Putin’s press secretary concluded.