MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. NATO has always been an instrument of aggression and confrontation, however, Russia is willing to cooperate with the alliance, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"We have repeatedly stated that NATO is an alliance created for the purpose of confrontation," the Kremlin official stressed. "However, Russia has never avoided cooperation with NATO; it has always been open to it."
Peskov added that the Russian side had never overemphasized the role of NATO in ensuring global European security and stability. "Because this is an instrument of confrontation, and event at times aggression. This is our opinion of NATO," he reiterated.
The Kremlin official reminded of the Russia-NATO Council, adding that cooperation within this body "has been scaled down practically to the level of expert interaction" not on the initiative of Moscow. "NATO may be alive or dead, and we are no coroners to examine and decide which parts of NATO are comatose," Peskov said, commenting on the recent statement by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In a recent interview with the Economist, Macron criticized the current state of NATO. "What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO," he said. According to the French president, Europe stands on "the edge of a precipice" and needs to start thinking of itself strategically as a geopolitical power; otherwise, it will no longer be in control of its destiny.