Top US Diplomat Says Americans Dislike Countries ‘Bullying’ Each Other

WASHINGTON, February 24 (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Americans dislike seeing countries bully each other, despite the United States maintaining an armed presence at approximately 750 bases across 80 countries.

"I think viscerally most Americans don’t like to see a big country bullying another, and they just feel it’s wrong and want to do something about it," Blinken said during an interview with CBS.

Blinken accused Russia of violating international norms of non-aggression by launching its special military operation in Ukraine. Russia insists the operation is intended to demilitarize and denazify territories targeted by the regime in Kiev, with Moscow also pointing toward NATO’s expansion and destabilizing activities in Ukraine as reasons for the operation.

The NATO alliance was founded by 12 countries in 1949, expanding to 30 members as of February 2023. Sweden and Finland are also now moving toward finalizing their accession to the alliance, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine also considered aspiring members.

Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, against which NATO was initially developed, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of Russia joining the alliance with then-US President Bill Clinton. Clinton purportedly had no objections.

However, the rest of the US delegation accompanying Clinton got very nervous, according to Putin. The idea never came to fruition.

In 2008, former US Ambassador to Russia William Burns – who now leads the CIA – sent a classified memo later revealed by WikiLeaks entitled "Nyet Means Nyet," in which he conveys Russia’s concerns about NATO enlargement, particularly in regards to Ukraine.

"Not only does Russia perceive encirclement, and efforts to undermine Russia’s influence in the region, but it also fears unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences which would seriously affect Russian security interests," Burns said in the memo.

Nevertheless, the US and NATO continued to pursue a policy of expansion despite understanding Russia’s perception and potential reaction to the situation, including the possibility of conflict.

On Thursday, US Congressman Paul Gosar said Blinken and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland hold a "deeply rooted, irrational hatred" for Russia. Gosar also criticized NATO for trying to force the US into a third world war.