ULAN BATOR (Sputnik) – Moscow will not allow NATO to drag Russia into a senseless confrontation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
“We are observing an unprecedented growth of military activity since the end of the ‘Cold War’ and NATO presence on the so-called Eastern Flank of the alliance with the goal of putting military and political pressure on Russia for constraint. This is all accompanied with an aggressive propagandistic campaign in demonizing Russia,” Lavrov said while delivering a speech at the Mongolian Foreign Ministry.
“Russia has no plans and will not be pulled into a senseless confrontation, and we’re convinced that there is no reasonable alternative to mutually beneficial common European cooperation in the area of security on the basis of inseparable security with the support of international law,” Lavrov added.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed the allegations of meddling in Ukrainian affairs and stressed that NATO's military expansion and increased presence near Russian borders undermines regional security.
