LONDON (Sputnik) — NATO has been increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014, in response to what it considers Russia's assertive foreign policy.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed the Ukraine-related accusations leveled at it, warning that increased NATO activities near the country's borders could undermine regional and global stability.
"Many of alliance representatives I’ve talked to confessed that the events in Ukraine have been used as a means to overcome NATO’s identity crisis," Grushko said at London’s Royal United Services Institute.
NATO’s and its partners’ attempts to portray Russia as a threat contradict the interests of the Alliance, Alexander Grushko said.
According to Grushko, such attempts will cut off NATO from constructive work in which cooperation with Russia is crucial, such as the fight with terrorism in Afghanistan.
