All news

NATO seeks domination in Euro-Atlantic region, Middle East — Lavrov

Russia's top diplomat pointed to the expansion of NATO member states' military budgets whereas their current budgets already exceed that of Russia ten-fold
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

BRATISLAVA, December 5. /TASS/. The decision in favor a record-ever buildup of the military budgets of NATO’s member-countries indicates that the alliance presses for domination in the world, including the Middle East, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media on the sidelines of the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday.

"NATO’s London summit made decisions in favor of a record-high buildup of the member-countries’ military budgets, although their current budgets exceed Russia’s ten-fold," he said. "The hard facts are that the situation is very simple and clear: NATO wishes to dominate in the Euro-Atlantic region and in other parts of the world, including the Middle East."

"Naturally, we cannot but feel worried over what has been happening within NATO," Lavrov stated. "The problem is NATO positions itself as a source of legitimacy and is adamant to persuade one and all it has no alternatives in this capacity, that only NATO is in the position to assign blames for everything that may be happening around us and what the West dislikes for some reason."

In this connection Lavrov pointed to NATO’s unbridled expansion and quick drift of the alliance’s military structures towards Russia’s borders, as well as continued fanning of tensions by means of putting forward false accusations against Moscow of harboring aggressive designs.