Russia criticized NATO for provocation when conducting exercises near the common border

“NATO’s exercises near the common border are a provocative act. Their purpose is to put pressure on Russia by showing off strength,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today.

NATO plans to start the exercise in Finland, a country with a common border of more than 1,300 km with Russia, on April 26. Ms. Zakharova emphasized that NATO’s activities “increase the risk of military incidents.”

Spokeswoman Zakharova affirmed that NATO representatives are deliberately causing “hysteria” by accusing Russia of being a threat. At the same time, she said the Western military alliance actively made comments insinuating that Russia planned to attack members of the bloc, in order to “justify their own aggressive intentions”.

“The upcoming military exercises on Finnish territory are clearly part of a hybrid war targeting our country,” Ms. Zakharova said.

Hybrid warfare is a term used to refer to a type of war that combines many methods, from political, military to cyber attacks.

The Russian diplomat also accused NATO of “exploiting military power from a country that was once neutral and trusted in discussions on enhancing stability and security”, referring to Finland.

Finland officially became NATO’s 31st member in early April last year after nearly a year of applying to join. The move is seen as a political and strategic blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s eastward expansion efforts and sees this as part of the reason he launched the campaign. in Ukraine.

With the decision to join NATO, Finland abandoned seven decades of pursuing a non-alliance policy since the 1939 winter war. NATO’s common border with Russia doubled after Helsinki became part of the alliance. Western military alliance.

Ms. Zakharova added that Moscow will closely monitor any “aggressive” actions by the West. “All necessary political, military and technical measures will be deployed to neutralize the threat to our defense capabilities,” she said.

Thanh Tam (According to TASS, The Guardian)