MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. NATO’s aggressive policies towards Russia are to blame for the current tensions in Europe, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Thursday while commenting on NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s claims that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were an attack against the current world order.
"This situation has been brewing for several decades. It was largely provoked by the aggressive policy the North Atlantic Alliance pursued towards our country, repeatedly bringing its infrastructure in several waves closer to Russia’s borders. This created additional dangers for us and required Russia’s countermeasures," he said.
Peskov stressed that Moscow disagreed with Stoltenberg's vision of the events in Ukraine. At the same time, he pointed out that the coup in Ukraine in 2014, orchestrated by NATO’s member countries, was the real threat to the world order.
"The real threat to the world order and the situation in the world and on our continent, that is, in Europe, surely comes from the coup that took place in Ukraine in 2014 and which was painstakingly orchestrated by NATO countries in defiance of the guarantees that the foreign ministers of a number of countries had provided. Hence the threat and danger to the world order," Peskov said. "Therefore, we disagree with Mr. Stoltenberg’s viewpoint."
Earlier, Stoltenberg said that the current situation in Europe was the most dangerous since World War II. He added that "what happens in Ukraine is terrible, but it would be much worse if there was a war between Russia and NATO," and for that reason the alliance’s member-states were helping Ukraine with weapons, money and equipment, but their soldiers did not enter the territory of that country.