NATO will have to face serious consequences if it encroaches on nuclear Russia: Sr Russian Defence Official

Moscow : NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) efforts to make the Baltic countries fearless by deploying missiles and increasing military activities near Russia’s western borders has invited the wrath of the Russians.

NATO’s 28-leaders at the Warsaw summit announced that the alliance will fortify its defense and deterrence at the Baltic States in a purely defensive measure. It has deployed four multinational battalions to the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Secretary General ‘Jens Stolenberg’ of NATO welcomed the decisions saying ‘it will help keep our nations away from the dangerous world.’

The veteran political scientist ‘Sergey Karaganov’ in an interview with a German daily ‘Spiegel’, warned NATO to stop challenging Russia. He is the Honorary Chairman of the influential Council on Foreign and Defense Policy which advises the President of the Russian Federation.

Russia has zero trust in NATO and believes that the alliance is preparing to go to war against it. Fears in countries like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are to be allayed by NATO stationing weapons there. But that doesn’t help them; we interpret that as a provocation. In a crisis, we will destroy exactly these weapons. Russia will never again fight on its own territory,” he said.

“The help offered by NATO is not symbolic help for the Baltic states. It is a provocation. If NATO initiates an encroachment – against a nuclear power like ourselves – it will be punished’, he stressed. Don’t fear that Russia’s leadership would start world war, but it will finish it.

In the interview, ‘Karaganov’, said in bold terms that the risk of a new shooting war in Europe has been on the rise for a decade and is now as high as it was at the height of the Cold War.

At the same time Russian permanent representative to NATO ‘Alexander Grushko’ said, “Today we are having a military buildup in the Baltic area, which from our point of view is absolutely unjustified.”

NATO has stepped up by deploying additional missiles in Baltic countries and the US led a significant number of troops for 10-day training operation in Poland. As a slap back measure, Russia is retaliating by increasing its nuclear activities.

It is hoped that the next summit discussions may relieve present crisis between NATO and Russia, which will depend on who are the new leaders of US and UK.