US Is the Primary Instigator of Tension With Russia - Think Tank

The head of the Barcelona-based Delas Center for Peace Studies the United States is the primary instigator of the current tension with Russia, Pere Ortega.

MADRID (Sputnik) – The United States is the primary instigator of the current tension with Russia, Pere Ortega, the head of the Barcelona-based Delas Center for Peace Studies, told Sputnik Wednesday.

"The only one who benefits from all this pressure is the United States, which is the one straining the situation because it weakens Western Europe… Russia shouldn’t fall into this trap," Ortega said.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would reinforce its nuclear potential in 2015 by adding more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles. Following the announcement, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg vowed to respond to Russia’s "assertive" rhetoric by building up a military presence in Eastern Europe.

"The escalation is verbal at the moment," but it is serious enough to "say that the leadership of both Russia and the United States especially and NATO, are in a very dangerous escalation [of the situation], which could put the threat of confrontation between Russia and Western Europe back on the table."

Russia’s relations with NATO became strained after the start of the Ukrainian armed conflict in 2014. The bloc accused Russia or participating in the conflict, and froze contacts with Moscow. Russia, in turn, has denied any involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, calling it a purely internal affair.