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Russia warns Germany against testing Russian Armed Forces’ reliability — statement

The October 21-22 NATO Council ministerial meeting once again confirmed the Alliance’s course toward the containment of Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Russia hopes Germany has sensible leaders, capable of holding German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer from testing the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement Monday.

"The lack of interest in a serious dialogue on de-escalation with Moscow was displayed by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer ahead of the NATO meeting. She underscored that NATO must show its readiness to use its Armed Forces against Russia. We hope that German has sensible leaders, capable of holding its Minister from the ill-advised desire to test the reliability of our Armed Forces," she noted.

The October 21-22 NATO Council ministerial meeting once again confirmed the Alliance’s course toward the containment of Russia, Zakharova added

"The recent ministerial meeting of the NATO Council once again confirmed that the entire NATO colossus is still, after 70 years, aims only at ‘deterrence’ of Russia. Having failed its era of ‘major operations,’ the Alliance, once again, just like during the Cold War era, sharpens its potentials at countering ‘the enemy in the East’," the diplomat underscored.

"To that extent, NATO Defense Ministers approved the strategic implementation plan for the Concept for Deterrence and Defense Concept in the Euro-Atlantic Area, and decided to update the Alliance’s defense plans on the ‘Eastern Flank.’ They intend to expand patrolling of the airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea waters, and increase the mobility of the Armed Forces."

The spokeswoman noted that Russia was once again accused of dismantling the INF Treaty, which allegedly prompted the Alliance to continue reinforce its air and missile defense systems and deploy F-35 jets.

"Meanwhile, NATO no longer mentions how they used to assure us that the missile defense system was deployed solely to deflect threats from Iran," she added.

The diplomat also noted that the NATO lexicon now includes the word "adversaries," which is yet another proof of the Alliance’s return back to the Cold War era. She underscored that Russia does not threaten NATO, but its steps and statements additionally convince Moscow of correctness of the decisions made towards the Alliance recently.

"It impossible to carry out a dialogue with those who are only ready for a confrontation," the statement says," she concluded.

The NATO Council Ministerial meeting took place in Brussels on October 21-22. On October 21, Kramp-Karrenbauer said in an interview for Deutschlandfunk that NATO must be ready to use military means against Russia, including atomic weapons, if necessary.