Russian President Vladimir Putin explained NATO's eastward expansion by the euphoria that Western countries experienced after the Cold War and the wrong analysis of the situation on their part.
Speaking Tuesday at an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry board, the head of state recalled Western actions in the 1990s and early 2000s that created problems for Russia.
"Sometimes you wonder why they did all this under those conditions. It's not clear. I think it was from euphoria over the victory in the so-called Cold War or the so-called victory in the Cold War. And out of a wrong, incorrect assessment of the situation at that moment in time and an illiterate, incorrect analysis of possible options for the situation," Putin said. "That's the reason. There are simply no other reasons," he said confidently.
According to Putin, Russia is ready to take military and technical measures if NATO approaches its borders. "If our Western colleagues' clearly aggressive line continues, we will take adequate military-technical measures and respond to unfriendly steps in a tough way," the head of state said. Putin stressed that Russia "has a full right to do so" - to act to ensure the country's security and sovereignty.
The Russian president emphasized that Moscow does not demand any special, exclusive conditions for itself. "Russia stands for equal and indivisible security in the entire Eurasian space," he said.
Putin said he was fed up with the West's manipulation of international law. "They [Western countries], we all know very well, act thousands of kilometers away from their national territory under various pretexts, including those aimed at ensuring their own security. And when international law and the UN charter interfere with them, they declare it all obsolete and unnecessary, and when something corresponds to their interests, they immediately refer to international law, to the UN charter, to humanitarian law, international law, and so on," Putin said. "These manipulations are tiresome," the head of state said.
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Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS