The United States intends to seek to strengthen NATO's opposition to Russia.

This was stated by and.

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Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Riker during a telephone briefing.

“I believe we will focus on strengthening the alliance's potential in countering Russia, persisting terrorist threats and, of course, promising and disruptive technologies, as well as cyber and hybrid threats,” he said, adding that among the problematic topics “ include campaigns to disseminate false information and disinformation, the use of corruption as a weapon. "

As Riker noted, the United States expects that relations with Russia for the American side "will continue to pose a challenge."

“It is obvious that NATO is well aware of this.

And we, in my opinion, are ready for this challenge, ”said the representative of the State Department.

According to him, "taking into account how Russia has behaved in recent months and years, there will be unfriendly components" in the relations between the United States and the Russian Federation.

“And we will not shy away from them ... We will conduct a dialogue with our allies to discuss different opinions about Russia and how we can build interaction with it, which, of course, would meet our collective interests, but at the same time maintain a sober understanding outgoing calls from her, "- said Riker.

Earlier, on March 16, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg said that "Russia is starting to act more and more decisively."

In his opinion, such behavior is a challenge for NATO member states.

He announced this during a press conference at which he presented the annual report on the activities of the block for 2020.

According to Stoltenberg, the Russian Federation is allegedly "responsible for aggressive actions against its neighbors", for "hybrid attacks and cyber attacks" against NATO members, as well as for "attempts to interfere in internal political processes."

  • US State Department and NATO symbols

  • Reuters

In the annual report on NATO activities, Russia is also accused of "provocative military activities near the borders of the North Atlantic Alliance."

According to Stoltenberg, given Russia's proactive actions, "it is very important that NATO continue to adapt and respond to an increasingly complex security situation."

The Russian side has repeatedly denied such accusations.

As the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said during the briefing, "Russia, according to the established tradition, is accused in this document of aggressive and destabilizing actions in all spheres."

According to Zakharova, Moscow expects that NATO will still hear the calls of the Russian side "for an honest conversation on pressing problems."

NATO activity

At the same time, the NATO member countries themselves are only increasing the intensity of military exercises near the borders of Russia. 

So, from March 10 to March 14, the NATO permanent mine action group and the Ukrainian Military-Sea Forces held joint exercises in the Black Sea.

This is reported by the Allied Naval Command of NATO.

As the press service of the Ukrainian Navy clarified on its official Facebook page, the military personnel of Turkey, Spain and Romania were also involved in the maneuvers.

At the same time, the purpose of the exercises was to work out interaction in the composition of tactical formations of ships of the fleets of different states.

The drills were reportedly planned and carried out according to Alliance standards and procedures.  

On March 19, NATO and Georgia exercises were also held in the Black Sea.

This is reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

"During the stay of the 2nd permanent naval group of NATO (SNMG2) in the port of Georgia, NATO forces conducted joint naval exercises in the Black Sea with the coast guard forces of the border police of the Georgian Interior Ministry," the ministry said in a statement.

The maneuvers were attended by the ships that are part of SNMG2: Regina Maria (Romania), Kemalreis (Turkey) and Smeli (Bulgaria), as well as the Georgian Coast Guard vessels "Ochamchira" and "Dioscuria", the report says.

At the same time, the NATO Allied Maritime Command informed that "after completing a visit to Georgia, SNMG2 will continue to carry out its program of activities in the Black Sea, within the framework of which it is envisaged to participate in the Sea Shield 21 multinational exercise."

The headquarters of the Romanian Navy clarified that these maneuvers should last from March 19 to March 29.

It is planned that eight countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will take part in the training: the USA, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, Romania, Turkey and Poland.

Sea Shield 21 will employ more than 2.4 thousand military personnel, as well as 18 ships and ten aircraft.

"The exercises include all stages of the NATO naval operation in response to the geopolitical crisis in the region," TASS quotes the words from a press release of the Romanian Navy.

  • US destroyer on exercises in the Black Sea

  • Twitter

  • © USApoRusski

"Not ready for positive dialogue"

As noted by the military expert Ivan Konovalov, the statement of the representative of the State Department Philip Riker sounded against the background of the increasing activity of the bloc near the Russian borders.

At the same time, the American official "did not say anything new," but once again confirmed Washington's course of increasing pressure on Russia, including through NATO, Konovalov said in an interview with RT.

“It is already clear that the new Biden administration is completely unprepared for a positive dialogue with Russia - neither in bilateral relations, nor in the framework of interaction between Russia and NATO.

And this position will be mirrored in the actions of the leadership of the alliance, since the United States plays the main role in the bloc.

Although the organization itself positions itself as a consensus, all processes within the alliance are taking place under the patronage of Washington, ”the analyst said.

Konovalov also believes that the US position on Russia and how, in their opinion, NATO should behave, "is counterproductive and leads to nowhere."

In addition, according to the expert, the US requirement for the bloc member countries to invest more in the alliance will remain relevant under the Biden administration.

“The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, at one time repeatedly called on the members of the alliance to bring defense spending to 2% of GDP as soon as possible.

But not all countries of the bloc reached these indicators.

Under the new American authorities, such a formulation of the question will certainly remain, ”Konovalov believes.

In a commentary to RT, the head of the Bureau of Political-Military Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, explained that "the United States is interested in NATO primarily as a tool for making money."

“The Americans do not want to let go of the cash cow, it is important for them to earn as much as possible, in particular through the sale of weapons.

In addition, the infusion of states into the bloc goes mostly to Washington, which is why it is so strongly and interested in the members of the alliance to increase funding for the organization, ”the analyst said.

At the same time, Washington submits its demands to increase the share of spending on NATO under the sauce of the notorious "Russian threat", Mikhailov added.

“No one is interested in the fact that Russia has never threatened Europe with anything and has officially confirmed its current line on more than one occasion.

However, the United States understands: as soon as they stop cultivating the far-fetched "Russian threat", many European countries and other states will no longer spend so much money on the so-called collective security, "the expert stated.

Ivan Konovalov, in turn, believes that the US demands will not be limited to this.

"The American side will also ask the bloc to spend more money on the purchase of US weapons, to increase the number of provocative maneuvers in the area of ​​the Russian borders with legends of exercises in which Russia will be indicated as a direct adversary," the analyst believes.

  • US soldier during NATO joint military exercise

  • © David Mdzinarishvili

In his opinion, Washington's demand for NATO to actively use the methods of information war against Moscow will not leave the agenda either.

"Here we are talking about discrediting the Russian Federation, denigrating it, as well as other attacks of the bloc in relation to the Armed Forces of Russia and its allies," the analyst said.

At the same time, NATO will follow Washington's instructions, Konovalov is sure.

“Do not forget that the alliance has a sufficient number of countries that in their anti-Russian rhetoric have gone much further than the United States.

These are, for example, Poland and the Baltic countries, which are the conductors of American policy in the North Atlantic alliance.

They will always be supporters of any American action, ”the expert concluded.