Russia considers NATO’s Steadfast Defender 2024 military exercise launched in Europe as a threat, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing, TASS reports.
He recalled that the alliance had been created for confrontation with Moscow, so Russia was taking the necessary countermeasures.
According to Peskov, Russia "unequivocally interprets" the NATO exercises as a threat because "NATO is an instrument of confrontation": the alliance was "conceived, formed and configured and is being governed at the moment by the United States" precisely in this way.
"It is a threat to us, that's how we see it. Appropriate countermeasures are being taken. The more so since the alliance has been moving its military infrastructure toward our borders for several decades nonstop," Peskov said.
The NATO exercise will continue until May, its focus being on troop readiness, training and operational redeployment of units. The Netherlands and Germany will also hold a joint exercise in April to practice rapid movement of large army formations.
