Kremlin says Nato treats Russia as ‘enemy’, to follow summit closely

MOSCOW – The Kremlin accused Nato on Tuesday of treating Russia like an “enemy” and said it would closely follow any decisions taken at a two-day summit of the Western military alliance and respond with unspecified measures to protect its own security. 

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said earlier he expected its leaders gathering in Vilnius

to send a “positive message” to Ukraine

about its path to eventual Nato membership.

Russia warned on Tuesday of “catastrophic consequences” for Europe if the Ukraine war escalates, as Nato leaders prepared to deliver a “positive message” to Kyiv at a summit on its

future prospects of joining the military alliance.

Moscow has cited Nato’s eastern expansion as a key factor in its decision to

invade Ukraine nearly 17 months ago.

“Russia is perceived by them (Nato leaders) as an enemy, as an adversary. It is in this vein that the discussions (in Vilnius) will be conducted,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing. 

“We are monitoring this very carefully because much of what has been said will be subject to in-depth analysis in order to take measures to ensure our own security,” he added. 

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in separate comments, said Moscow was taking “appropriate” measures in anticipation of Nato’s further expansion. He did not elaborate. 

At the summit in the Lithuanian capital, Nato leaders are set to approve the alliance’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack by Moscow.

Diplomats said differences were narrowing among the allies over Ukraine’s push for Nato membership, though it will not be invited to join the alliance while the war still rages on its territory.

“Potentially, this issue (of Ukraine joining Nato) is very dangerous for European security... and therefore those who will make the decision must be aware of this,” said Mr Peskov. 

He said European leaders did not seem to understand that moving Nato military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders was a mistake. 

Among a flurry of statements by senior Russian diplomats ahead of the Vilnius summit, Mr Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based senior Russian security negotiator, accused the United States of fuelling the conflict by

pouring arms into Ukraine.

In an interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency, Mr Gavrilov said Europe would be the first to face “catastrophic consequences” if the war escalated further. He did not specify what those consequences would be.

“Let’s look at the facts – the fate of Europe is of little interest to the United States,” he said, accusing Washington of pursuing an agenda of seeking to weaken and undermine Russia.

Earlier, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov made a similar criticism of what he called Washington’s “anti-Russian” stance at the summit in Vilnius.

“Everything is being done to prepare local public opinion for the approval of any anti-Russian decisions that will be made in Vilnius in the coming days,” Mr Antonov said in a post on the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel.

Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin, in comments cited by RIA, said those plans would make

Nato’s confrontation with Moscow more tense and prolonged.

Mr Peskov said Sweden’s expected accession to NATO would have“negative implications” for Russia’s security and that Moscow would have to respond.

Finland and Sweden both applied to join Nato last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Helsinki formally joined the alliance in April. 

Sweden is now set to become Nato’s 32nd member after Turkey dropped its opposition on the eve of the summit. 

Mr Peskov played down the Turkish move, saying Ankara had to meet its obligations as a Nato member.

He added that Russia would continue to develop its relations with Turkey, which unlike its Nato allies has refused to impose economic sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine. REUTERS