Russia says NATO’s controversial war games that are currently taking place with the use of “hybrid and conventional weapons” near the country’s borders show the Western alliance is seriously preparing for a conflict with Moscow.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that “NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender, is taking place near Russia’s borders.”
She said the “coalition’s actions against Russia are being practiced using all the instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons.”
“We have to admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a ‘potential conflict’ with us,” she added.
NATO kicked off the drills with the participation of around 90,000 troops in January to show “that NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometers,” according to the alliance.
The war games will continue until the end of May.
NATO has formerly described the military exercises as “a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.”
The 31-nation organization has long been considering Russia one of its biggest adversaries.
Moscow has repeatedly warned the US-led alliance against eastward expansion. In the months before President Vladimir Putin of Russia ordered the “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, NATO had been beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
NATO is not directly involved in the war with Russia, but it has been supplying Kiev with weapons and ammunition as well as military training.
Russia warned last month that its forces would intensify attacks on Ukrainian storage bases housing Western-supplied weapons.
In a related development, the defense ministry said on Saturday that Russian air defense forces have shot down four US-made ATACMS long-range missiles that have recently arrived in Ukraine.
The United States confirmed in April it had sent these missiles to Ukraine.
Ukraine used US ATACMS missiles against Russia for the first time in October.
