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Some European countries seek escalation of conflict with Russia — defense minister

As an example, Sergey Shoigu cited the steps of Ukraine, which had triggered another crisis in Donbass ahead of NATO’s summit in Brussels

MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Some European countries are interested in escalating conflict with Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the IX Moscow Conference on International Security on Wednesday.

"Some European countries are interested in escalating conflict with Russia," Shoigu said. As an example, the minister cited the steps of Ukraine, which had triggered another crisis in Donbass ahead of NATO’s summit in Brussels.

According to Shoigu, the tendency in Europe towards increased military confrontation has consolidated.

"The North Atlantic Alliance is stepping up the number of high readiness forces, and exploring the routes of rapid deployment of forces to the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus," Shoigu stressed. A clear example of this are the Defender-Europe drills where offensive operations in the alliance’s eastern flank were practiced, he said.