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NATO’s destabilizing factor: Kremlin comments on military alliance’s expansion plans

Earlier, media outlets reported about a suggestion that India be included in the NATO plus format in an accelerated procedure

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. NATO does not bring peace and stability and this structure only destabilizes the situation in the regions of its presence, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, commenting on the military bloc’s expansion plans.

"NATO does not bring peace and stability. NATO is the structure that rather destabilizes the situation in the regions where it is present. We see this process in this way," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Media outlets earlier reported about a suggestion that India be included in the NATO plus format in an accelerated procedure. The format integrates NATO member states and five US allies: Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. However, in comments on the initiative, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stressed that the bloc-based approach was unacceptable for India.

Also, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier said that the bloc intended to open its office in Japan. As the newspaper Nikkei reported, this office can be used for the parties’ consultations on various issues. Australia, New Zealand and South Korea can also participate, it added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin later stated that China and other Asian countries stood against the emergence of any military blocs in the region and would not allow unleashing "a cold or a hot war" there. On his part, French Ambassador to Japan Philippe Setton said that France disfavored the opening of the NATO office in Tokyo due to the fears of intensifying confrontation with China.

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