NATO: Russia wants to destabilize other countries

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia against blocking former post-Soviet countries from joining the alliance.

He stated this in Washington on Wednesday, 27 May, during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reports Deutsche Welle.

In particular, taking into account the conflict in the Donbas, the NATO Secretary General guaranteed protection to the countries of Europe, and also promised to take care of the stability of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

“These countries are not buffer zones, they are independent, sovereign states,” he said.

In this regard, he warned Russia from attempts to prevent former post-Soviet countries from joining the alliance.

“Whether this or that state will become a member of NATO or not will be decided only by itself and the 28 member countries of the alliance. And no one else,” Stoltenberg emphasized.

He also sharply criticized provocative statements and actions of Russia in the field of nuclear weapons.

"Russia's recent use of nuclear rhetoric and exercises involving missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons is deeply troubling," he said.

According to the Secretary General, if Moscow carries out its threats to deploy nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad and station nuclear weapons in Crimea, this will “fundamentally change the balance of security in Europe.”

In addition, he criticized the expansion of the geography of flights of Russian nuclear bombers, appearing in the skies from “Japan to Gibraltar, from the island of Crete to California, from the Baltic to the Black Sea.”

According to Stoltenberg, Russia did not learn lessons from the Cold War.

“Russia’s sabre-rattling is unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous,” Stoltenberg said.