Russia has accused NATO of moving towards "uncontrolled militarization" and deliberately portraying Moscow as a "devil from hell" to justify the increase in defense spending by the alliance's member states, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
NATO leaders, who are starting a summit in the Netherlands today, said that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, it could attack a NATO country in the coming years. Moscow categorically denies such intentions.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there was no point in trying to convince NATO of this. He said NATO was demonizing Russia to maintain an atmosphere of confrontation and justify its high defense spending.
"NATO is not an instrument of peace and stability, but of confrontation," Peskov said. He criticized the idea, supported by President Donald Trump, that member states should allocate 5% of GDP to defense. He said that to push through this goal, NATO needs a "demonic threat" as a role it is trying to push Russia into.
"They need a monster, a devil from hell, and in their opinion, Russia fits that role perfectly," he said.
NATO says its assessment of Russia is based on Moscow's actions, including the war in Ukraine. The NATO summit aims to show that the alliance is united despite Trump's criticism and is determined to modernize its defenses as a deterrent against Russia.