MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has stated that current tensions within the North Atlantic Alliance should not be underestimated.

"Indeed, of course, the current tensions within NATO should not be underestimated," Grushko said at a news conference, responding to a question about whether the split within NATO is reversible and what awaits the alliance, in light of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's statements, among other things, that Europe cannot defend itself without the United States. "Because even the very fact that Rutte raised such a question indicates that not all is well in this 'Danish Kingdom,' as I would put it."

On the other hand, Grushko noted, there have been many splits within NATO. "Off the top of my head, if you think back, look at Greek-Turkish relations: for decades, they've been practically bordering on war. I don't know about last year, but in recent years, there have been approximately 1,500 incidents recorded in the airspace over the Aegean Sea. That's the reality. Second, let's say 2003, the US invasion of Iraq. France said 'No', supported by Germany, and it was impossible to reach a consensus within NATO. What did the Americans do? They simply pushed NATO aside, created a coalition of the willing, and did what they did. The Libyan situation, closer to the current period. Germany didn't vote for the relevant resolution in the UN Security Council and was ostracized for it. In short, there were many such tensions," he listed.

He also drew attention to Afghanistan. "They kept telling us - because we cooperated with NATO under the UN resolution that established the International Security Assistance Force - and they kept telling us: 'We came together, we'll go together, and the Americans won't leave without us.' We saw [former] President [of the US Joe] Biden decide to leave, and the entire NATO structure, the operation, collapsed. And we remember what the most 'successful' military alliance in human history looked like when it was running away," he added.

NATO's geopolitical engineering

"After the failures the alliance suffered as a result of its geopolitical engineering, let me remind you that, firstly, the Balkans have not been restored; these are devastated countries. In North Africa and the Middle East, we see vast territories without any state control, which are still bleeding as a result of these NATO interventions. And then they [at NATO] decided that they had to return to the main thing - the East, the 'threat.' Therefore, if there is no threat, then one must be invented. It was invented in the form of Russia," Grushko noted.

In this regard, he drew attention to the words of former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "He said it bluntly: we've found ourselves in a difficult situation again, back at square one. After Afghanistan, it's unclear what to do. Therefore, if the Ukrainian crisis hadn't happened, it would have had to be invented," Grushko recalled Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's remarks. He drew attention to the words of NATO's first Secretary General, Lord Ismay. "If we recall the formula of Lord Ismay, NATO's first Secretary General, who said what the alliance in Europe is for: to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. Now we see the US declaring European security to be the responsibility of Europeans, and demanding corresponding financial investments from them to that end. Financial investment is also needed to purchase American weapons," Grushko added. He noted that currently, 64% of the weapons supplied to the EU are exported, primarily from the United States: "That is, the US military-industrial complex is simply profiting from this; it's enjoying a 'golden shower’." He also quoted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's statements that his country should become the leading "military-political force in Europe." "We are somewhat surprised by the Europeans' completely inert reaction to this thesis," Grushko added.