Moscow claims NATO has been defeated in its aim of 'turning Ukraine into anti-Russia'

Speaking on the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said that the NATO has been already defeated in Ukraine. Alexander Grushko, the Russian deputy foreign minister, was making the statement in response to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s statement that Russia’s victory in the Ukraine conflict would mean defeat of NATO, adding that the alliance should not allow it.

Grushko said in an interview to Russian State news agency TASS that, “NATO has already been defeated in Ukraine. This defeat is connected with the collapse of the project of turning Ukraine into ‘anti-Russia’.”

The Russian deputy foreign minister added that no one knows anything about NATO’s victories, whereas everyone is well aware of the consequences of NATO’s military interventions. “As for its victories, I don’t know anything, nobody knows anything about it. But everyone knows about the results of the socio-political, geopolitical engineering of NATO military interventions,” he further said. Alexander Grushko added that the West crossed a dangerous line by targeting the Nord Stream pipelines and the Crimean bridge. 

Attack on Nord Stream and Crimea bridge dangerous, says Grushko

“If we talk about the attacks on Nord Steam 2 and on the Crimean Bridge, then the West has obviously crossed a very dangerous line,” said Grushko. He added that even as per NATO’s doctrine, “causing damage to critical infrastructure facilities is regarded as an act of armed attack, which suggests a conventional response with the use of armed forces. Obviously, the organisers of these terrorist acts understand what they were doing, this clearly shows that this was a step towards further escalation.”

Serbia facing pressue from West, says Russia 

The Russian deputy foreign minister is on a visit to Belgrade, Serbia, where ways to strengthen the strategic ties between Russia and Serbia were discussed. "Issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed with an emphasis on strengthening the Russian-Serbian strategic partnership in the context of the growing global crisis. The parties focussed on joint work to ensure stability in the Balkans and overcome the consequences of the confrontational policy of the West,” read a statement from the foreign ministry of Russia. Alexander Grushko said that he is aware Serbia faces immense pressure from the West and appreciates the fact that Serbia is acting in its national interest.

Image: AP