The North Atlantic Alliance will build up its military capabilities and use a combination of different tools to counter Russia.

On the eve of the summit of the leaders of the NATO countries in Brussels, the Secretary General of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the American television channel CNBC.

“NATO's approach to Russia is based on a so-called two-pronged approach that involves defense and dialogue,” Stoltenberg said.

NATO's secretary general said NATO will continue to strengthen its defense capabilities.

“This is how we are acting now, having carried out the largest strengthening of our collective security since the end of the Cold War, and we will continue to enhance our collective security through a high degree of combat readiness, a build-up of troops and increased investment in our defense,” Stoltenberg quoted CNBC as saying.

NATO Secretary General also said that after the termination of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), the alliance has not changed its concept and does not intend to deploy new ground-based missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

“But we guarantee that we will respond appropriately to new military build-ups on the part of Russia, including in the field of nuclear weapons,” Stoltenberg said.

He noted that NATO will strengthen the air and missile defense system, but also strive to conclude arms control treaties, and this is "part of the dialogue with Russia."

The Alliance Secretary General also stressed the importance of sanctions against Russia, adding that their application should continue along with increased support for NATO partners such as Ukraine and Georgia.

In addition, Stoltenberg said that relations between the bloc and Moscow are "at the lowest point since the Cold War due to the aggressive behavior of the Russian Federation."

At the same time, in an interview with the German press agency DPA, Stoltenberg expressed his readiness for dialogue with Russia.

“If the situation is right, I will meet with President Vladimir Putin,” the NATO Secretary General said.

Dual relationships

We will remind, earlier, the American media, citing sources in the US Senate and the European Union, reported that the participants in the summit of the leaders of NATO countries, following the meeting, intend to circulate a communiqué confirming the refusal to deploy land-based missiles in Europe.

Western media noted that the move was seen as "an opportunity to ease tensions with Moscow and start a dialogue on arms control" ahead of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Geneva on June 16.

  • NATO summit in Brussels

  • Reuters

  • © Olivier Matthys

Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg, following talks in Brussels with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, said that the alliance welcomes the meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States, since NATO needs not only deterrence and defense, but also dialogue.

According to him, NATO should strive to improve relations with Russia.

“Now we see that relations between NATO and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

We must prevent possible incidents and accidents, miscalculations, misunderstandings, and, therefore, military channels of communication, transparency and predictability are important, especially when relations between the parties are as difficult as now.

Of course, Biden's meeting with Putin is part of such a dialogue with Russia, ”the NATO Secretary General noted then.

Vladimir Putin also spoke about his attitude to NATO and the bloc's policy towards Russia on the eve of the meeting in Geneva.

In an interview with the Russia 1 TV channel, the President of the Russian Federation recalled that even during the period of good relations with Moscow, the alliance countries ignored its interests in the issue of expanding the bloc to the east.

“With regard to NATO expansion, bringing NATO infrastructure closer to the Russian borders is an extremely important thing for the security of Russians and Russia,” the Russian leader stressed.

Vladimir Putin noted that it was with more favorable relations between the Russian Federation and the West that two waves of NATO expansion to the east took place.

“Note, this was when there was no Crimea, there were no events after the coup d'etat in Ukraine, relations between Russia and the collective West were quite acceptable, if not partnership in the direct, good sense of the word, and nevertheless all our concerns they were simply ignored, all preliminary agreements (though they were oral, with Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev - he, thank God, is alive and well, you can ask him, he will confirm for sure), they were consigned to oblivion by the West, "Vladimir Putin said ...

Containment at borders

It is worth noting that the summit of NATO leaders in Brussels is taking place against the backdrop of the Alliance's largest exercise in Europe since the Cold War - Defender Europe 2021. More than 28 thousand troops from 26 countries, including the United States, are involved in them.

As part of the maneuvers, military operations are carried out on the territory of 12 countries.

In April, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted that NATO maneuvers were "clearly anti-Russian."

According to him, the increase in the military presence of the United States and the NATO bloc in Europe leads to an increase in the military danger.

  • Exercise Defender Europe 2021

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Lubos Pavlicek

Shoigu also stated that “the military infrastructure is being modernized, the intensity of operational and combat training is growing, the American concept of“ four by 30 ”is being implemented (the formation in NATO of groups of 30 motorized infantry battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 combat ships, ready for use within 30 days ).

The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko, in a conversation with RT, noted that Stoltenberg's words in an interview about his intention to build up the military potential of the alliance to counter the Russian Federation confirm NATO's anti-Russian course.

“Today, the North Atlantic Alliance is deliberately approaching the Russian border, including developing new infrastructure on the territory of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, on the basis of which it is possible to nurture strike groups and deploy various missile systems.

NATO views Russia as a military adversary, and this course will continue in the future, ”the expert emphasized.

In this regard, an increase in military activity can be expected, including exercises in which the NATO army rehearses various options for a war against the Russian Federation, Korotchenko added.

In turn, statements about the non-deployment of ground-based missiles "are worthless, especially in the absence of a binding treaty in this area," the expert said in an interview with RT.

The position voiced by Stoltenberg is alarming and demonstrates that one should not expect a change in the course of the alliance with respect to the Russian Federation, said retired Major General Pavel Zolotarev, member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.

“It is important to note that a significant part of the blame for the aggravation of Russian-European relations lies precisely with NATO, which is trying to attribute this to Russia's actions.

Naturally, this process was initiated by the United States, but the majority of the alliance members supported this policy.

For example, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) died due to the reluctance of some NATO members to cooperate with Russia, "said the interlocutor of RT.

Recall that Russia suspended the CFE Treaty in 2007 after the deployment of US military bases on the territory of Bulgaria and Romania, the failure of NATO countries to fulfill their obligations to ratify the treaty and the accession to NATO of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia, which are not parties to the treaty.

Pavel Zolotarev also noted that the statement on the non-deployment of land-based nuclear missiles in Europe is not a solution to the problem, although it is a positive moment.

“However, the United States has an intention to deploy missiles without nuclear warheads in Europe, which Stoltenberg does not mention.

In this regard, the strengthening of air and missile defense will give NATO colossal advantages in the possibilities of waging a modern war against Russia.

Undoubtedly, this will seriously destabilize the situation, ”the expert emphasized.

As for the regime of strengthening sanctions against Russia and creating uncertainty regarding Ukraine and Georgia in terms of the prospects for joining NATO, this is an alarming position that does not give grounds for optimism, Pavel Zolotarev added.

In general, Stoltenberg's statements about a "two-pronged" approach look on duty and do not inspire confidence, the expert said.

"So far, there is no talk of any dialogue with Russia, these are just words," Zolotarev concluded.