NATO exercises are proof that the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, says Moscow

NATO’s four-month-long military exercises near Russia’s borders, known as Steadfast Defender, are evidence that the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. , reports Reuters, according to Agerpres.

Zakharova rejected NATO’s accusations this week that Russia was involved in hybrid attacks on its member states, saying it was misleading “disinformation” designed to distract people from the alliance’s activities.

It was NATO that waged a hybrid war with Russia, supporting Ukraine with weapons, intelligence and finances, she said in a statement.

“Right now, NATO’s biggest post-Cold War exercise, Steadfast Defender, is taking place near Russia’s borders. According to their scenario, the actions of the coalition against Russia are practiced using all instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons”, she claimed in a statement.

“We must admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a ‘potential conflict’ with us,” she added.

Relations between Russia and the West are at their lowest level in decades following the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Announcing the start of the exercises in January, NATO said 90,000 troops would take part, practicing how US troops could bolster European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance’s eastern flank should conflict break out. . The exercises, NATO’s largest since the Cold War, are scheduled to run until the end of May.

Russia said at the time that the exercises marked an “irrevocable return” of the alliance to Cold War schemes.