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Russia never called NATO an enemy — Lavrov

The military doctrine of the Russian Federation never mentions that NATO is an enemy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said
NATO headquarters in Brussels AP Photo/Virginia Mayo
NATO headquarters in Brussels
© AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Russia has never called NATO an enemy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview to the France 24 TV channel on Tuesday.

“I’ve never said this,” the minister said, answering a question of a French correspondent who supposed that Lavrov have said many times that he felt “that NATO as an organization is an enemy for Russia.”

“Well, when you have an impression you should ask a question, and then read the documents. The document which is relevant in this case is the military doctrine of the Russian Federation. It never mentions that NATO is an enemy,” Lavrov said.

“What it says is that the security risks for Russia, among other things, are NATO expansion to the East and the movement of military infrastructure of NATO closer to the Russian borders — not NATO itself, but its militarized movement to the East is considered by the Russian military doctrine as a security risk and threat for Russia,” said the Russian foreign minister.