18.10.2021, Moscow.
Suspension of the work of the information bureau and the NATO Military Liaison Mission Moscow and the Russian post office to the alliance was inevitable, chief editor of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko said, as RIA Novosti informed on October 18.
He noted that these actions would not affect Russia-NATO relations because there was no interaction with the North Atlantic Alliance on this level.
“There is a Russophobic anti-Russian policy of the NATO headquarters, which is manifested both in military exercises and in practical actions, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats who worked there. Therefore, the suspension of the NATO information bureau mission is Moscow’s response to the actions that the alliance has committed,” Korotchenko said.
He added that Russia responded adequately and in a timely manner to the emerging situation.
“There is always the principle of reciprocity in diplomacy. Russia acts on this basis. The West made the first steps, NATO did, the United States did. We only respond within the framework of appropriate procedures,” Korotchenko noted.
On October 7, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that the decision of NATO to expel almost half of the Russian diplomats from Brussels almost completely undermined the prospects for normalization of relations between Russia and this alliance.
On October 6, it became known about NATO’s decision to withdraw accreditation from eight members of the Russian mission to NATO under the pretext of allegedly hostile activities of diplomats.
Commenting on the decision, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that this was done to create a “bugbear” in the form of a “Russian threat.”
During talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN General Assembly in New York, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed to restore the “Russia-NATO” format.
On October 5, in a speech at Georgetown University, Stoltenberg spoke of the need to maintain engagement with Russia, because otherwise a new Cold War or arms race could emerge, which no one wants.
In June 2021, Stoltenberg said that with regard to Russia, the alliance adheres to the principle of “containment and dialogue.” On October 4, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Council of the Federation International Committee, told reporters about Stoltenberg’s talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which a proposal was made to restore the Russia-NATO format.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
