A Russian foreign ministry official recently warned of “tragic consequences” as 90,000 troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its partner Sweden train near Russia’s border.
Earlier this week, NATO launched a military exercise called “Steadfast Defender 2024.” The operation will run through May and entail around 90,000 military personnel training in several European countries, including Poland, Russia’s neighbor. The goal of the exercise is to “test and refine NATO’s defense plans for reinforcing European defenses against a near-peer adversary,” according to a statement from NATO.
While Russia was not named in the announcement, NATO states in its 2022 Strategic Concept, a document that identifies security challenges facing the military bloc, “The Russian Federation poses the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security.”
Sweden, along with its neighbor Finland, applied to join NATO after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. There needs to be unanimous support from all member states to gain entry. While Finland joined NATO last April, Sweden’s entry is currently being held up by Hungary.
Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images
During a briefing, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the operation “provocative in nature,” Russian state media Tass reported on Friday.
“For several months, a 90,000-strong group of forces from 31 NATO member countries, as well as Sweden, will be actively operating near Russian borders on the territory from Norway to Romania,” she said. “This step is deliberately aimed at escalating things. It increases the risk of military incidents and could ultimately lead to tragic consequences for Europe.”
Zakharova said that Russia “has no plans to attack NATO countries,” despite fears of escalating global conflict if Russia was to win its invasion of Ukraine.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of the Eastern European country, he claimed it was to “denazify” Ukraine. However, Ukraine leaders have repeatedly denied accusations from Putin that the country is run by a Nazi regime.
During her recent briefing, Zakharova said that “the chairman of its [NATO] military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that the alliance is preparing for a conflict with Russia. Similar comments have also been repeatedly heard from the leadership of NATO countries.”
She continued: “In this way the alliance is trying to justify its existence in the eyes of millions of Europeans and Americans, as well as its agenda to contain Russia, to justify the insane increase in military spending, and, of course, in some way distract public opinion and audience attention from the failures in the field of that very hybrid war [NATO is conducting] by the hands of the Kiev regime against our country.”
Newsweek reached out to the Russian government via online form and the NATO Press Office via email for comment.
The United States and the European Union (EU) have been the biggest financial and military backers of Ukraine in its war with Russia. While President Joe Biden remains a loyal ally to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, American support of Ukraine aid has been dwindling, especially among Republicans. As Biden pushes for more aid for Ukraine, he has warned that if Russia succeeds in defeating the war-torn nation, the U.S. military may be at risk of being pulled into a direct conflict with Moscow.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.