NATO's rhetoric heightens tensions with Kremlin

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The Kremlin criticized NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for suggesting that alliance members should allow Ukraine to use weapons from allies to attack military targets in Russia, reports Reuters on Monday.

"We see this very clearly demonstrated now in the fighting in Kharkiv. The Russian forces are on Russia territory attacking, just over the border, Ukrainian territory. The front line is more or less the border line, and if you cannot attack the Russian forces on the other side of the front line because they are on the other side of the border, then of course you really reduce the ability of the Ukrainian forces to defend themselves," he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Stoltenberg's words: "NATO increases the level of escalation." The Russian newspaper Izvestia asked him about the alliance chief's words.

NATO flirts with military rhetoric and falls into military ecstasy - Peskov announced, adding that the Russian military knows what to do. It continues the special military operation (the war in Ukraine - ed.) to counter all threats, he added.

When asked whether NATO is moving closer to direct confrontation with Russia, he replied: It is not moving closer; it is already in it.

As Reuters reminds, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West that it is risking a global war beyond Ukraine, and a direct conflict between Russia and NATO would mean that we are on the brink of World War III.

The Russian state agency RIA Novosti additionally quotes Sergey Lavrov, who, commenting on Stoltenberg's Monday statement, said that he had exceeded his powers and added that the NATO chief has been "badgered by alliance members" for a long time.

Source: Reuters, RIA Novosti