NATO Justifies Deterrence of Russia by 'Inflating Myth' on Threat From East

Russian envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said that NATO justifies the necessity to deter Russia by inflating the myth about the threat from the East.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — NATO justifies the necessity to deter Russia by inflating the myth about the threat from the East, Russian envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said.

"NATO is trying to draw us into a state of Cold War by inflating the myth about the threat from the East and justifying the necessity to deter Russia," Grushko told RIA Novosti, answering the question whether Cold War arises in the Russia-NATO relations.

According to Grushko, the Europeans are being imposed with the enemy image and security schemes of the confrontation era.

"The scope of propaganda campaign is unprecedented… and the more artificially Russian threat looks like, the more actively NATO propagandists work," Grushko stressed.

Grushko considers the NATO course on Russia's deterrence to be a "deadlock," describing it as "non-viable."

NATO-Russia relations deteriorated in 2014 over Crimea's reunification with Russia and Moscow's alleged role in the crisis in eastern Ukraine. The alliance unilaterally halted military cooperation with Russia.