NATO member countries continue to increase defence spending. In 2018, in aggregate, they amounted to about a trillion dollars. This is stated in the commentary of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is in connection with the meeting of the NATO Council at the level of the Foreign Ministers held in Washington.
«The prospect of a slide to a new arms race due to the consistent increase in defence spending of NATO member countries is alarming. In total, in 2018 they amounted to about $1 (one) trillion dollars, which is more than half of the global expenditures for these purposes and much, more than 20 times, exceeds the defence budget of Russia», it is said in the message.
They also answered the words of the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, about the intention to improve relations with Russia.
«Despite the fact that NATO formally declares readiness for a dialogue with Russia, concrete steps are not visible. The same ultimatum language and lack of readiness to deal with essentially the key problems of the European Security in the format of a meaningful conversation, focused on results, are in progress», it is said in the commentary.
Russia, at the same time, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation reminded, «remains open for interaction in order to de-escalate tensions, restore confidence, prevent misunderstanding of each other’s intentions and reduce the risks of dangerous incidents».
Islam-Russia.com