Russia wants answers on NATO troop movement in Eastern Europe
Russia expects detailed explanations from NATO regarding expanding its military presence in Eastern Europe, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The statement comes after NATO bloc announced boosting its military presence in the area. ● "We have addressed questions to the North Atlantic military alliance. We are not only expecting answers, but answers that will be based fully on respect for the rules we agreed on," Lavrov told reports at a joint briefing with Kazakhstan’s FM Yerlan Idrisov. However, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had not received any questions from Moscow. In response he called Russian accusations about NATO's actions "propaganda and disinformation." [...] After the announcement of deploying troops in Ukraine, NATO also said that it is suspending all military and civilian cooperation with Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, a move that was immediately blasted by Moscow who said that neither Russia, not NATO would benefit from such a step. Russia called this move reminiscent of Cold War language. Lavrov also called upon the world’s powers to abide by the rules of the Montreux Convention, which allows a warship of any non-Black Sea country to stay in the region for only 21 day.
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Jason Ditz: Russia Seeks NATO Explanation for Eastern Europe Buildup
J. Stern & A. Lantier: Russia warns NATO over military build-up in eastern Europe ■ [...] Rasmussen indicated that, in his view, NATO was no longer bound by the 1997 treaty. Citing the 2008 Georgian war and today’s crisis in Ukraine, he said: “Russia is violating every principle and international commitment it has made, first and foremost the commitment not to invade other countries.” Rasmussen’s arguments to justify the reckless NATO escalation in Eastern Europe by portraying Russia as the aggressor are a pack of lies. The 2008 Georgian war, as was later admitted even by US officials, began when the US-backed Georgian regime assaulted Russian peacekeepers stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, who had attacked no one. Attempts to portray NATO as a defender of world order and international law are transparent frauds. Even leaving aside the fact that the NATO powers operate global torture and drone murder operations, they have time and again—in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, or last year’s war scare in Syria—sought to wage aggressive war despite opposition at the UN Security Council, in violation of international law. As for the current crisis in Ukraine, it exploded after the NATO powers brazenly backed a putsch in Kiev, led by fascist groups like the Right Sector and the Svoboda party, to topple a pro-Russian Ukrainian regime and install a regime militarily aligned on NATO directly on Russia’s borders.
Robert Parry: Ukraine’s Inconvenient Neo-Nazis ■ The U.S. media’s take on the Ukraine crisis is that a “democratic revolution” ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, followed by a “legitimate” change of government. So, to mention the key role played neo-Nazi militias in the putsch or to note that Yanukovych was democratically elected – and then illegally deposed – gets you dismissed as a “Russian propagandist.” But Ukraine’s neo-Nazis are not some urban legend. Their presence is real, as they swagger in their paramilitary garb through the streets of Kiev, displaying Nazi insignias, honoring SS collaborators from World War II, and hoisting racist banners, including the white-power symbol of the Confederate battle flag. [...] The bottom line is that the U.S. government and media have constructed a substantially false narrative for the American people, all the better to manufacture consent behind a $1 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine and the launch of a new Cold War with the expectation of many more exciting confrontations to come – in places like Syria and Iran – all justifying fatter military budgets.
Stephen Lendman: Reckless Russia Bashing Persists ■ It's relentless. It persists daily. Big Lies drown out truth. Containing Russia is longstanding policy. Doing so reflects US hegemonic ambitions. Eliminating a major rival is prioritized. Marginalizing, weakening, isolating, and co-opting it is planned. Escalated tensions risk belligerent East/West confrontation. Whenever Washington wages war or plans one, media scoundrels march in lockstep. They regurgitate official propaganda ad nauseam. Doing so substitutes lies for truth.