Some NATO Exercises Aimed to Taunt, Organized Under Pretexts - Official

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev says that Russia treats some of NATO military alliance’s drills as attempts to provoke rather than exercise, but it has been showing restraint in the face of these provocations.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia treats some of NATO military alliance’s drills as attempts to provoke rather than exercise, but it has been showing restraint in the face of these provocations, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.

"Separate NATO actions look more like provocations than manoeuvres," the senior security official said in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.

He cited Operation Hedgehog, a two-week military exercise that was held in Estonia at the time when Russia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The NATO drill close to Russia’s border involved 13,000 Estonian soldiers, as well as 1,000 personnel from the United States and Europe, including Britain.

"The West seems to be ready to sound alarm every time Russian plans are spotted in the international airspace while on routine patrol missions. They have been after alleged Russian submarines roaming Scandinavian waters for more than a year. We exercise restraint when it comes to the North Atlantic Alliance’s justifying its actions by such pretexts," Patrushev said.

Tensions between NATO and Russia intensified after the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014. Russia has since repeatedly accused the bloc of building up its presence in Eastern Europe, saying that it is an aggressive step that could destabilize the region.