The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, declared this Friday (18) that the country is ready to cooperate and restore relations with its European neighbors, highlighting that Moscow has no aggressive intentions against the continent. The president, however, warned that, in a scenario of hostilities, there will be a reaction.
“We better live in harmony. Otherwise, we too will have to respond. This should be obvious to everyone,” said the Russian president during a meeting of the Military Industry Commission.
The statement came on the same day that the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, announced a heightened alert in the country, citing the spread of alleged threats attributed to Moscow.
When speaking, Putin reaffirmed that Russia has no reason to attack European nations and classified fears of imminent aggression as unfounded.
“I want to say once again: Russia does not have any aggressive intentions towards Europe, towards European countries. We simply have no reason for this. We are ready to cooperate and restore relations with our European neighbors,” Putin said.
The head of state accused Western governments of using the Russian threat narrative to justify strengthening the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and increasing military spending. The Russian leader also criticized recent military exercises carried out by European Union (EU) countries in the Baltic Sea.
“We also pay attention to the exercises that have just been carried out in the Baltic Sea. One of the objectives is to train the seizure of civilian ships. Is this normal? They talk all the time about protecting international law, about respecting the norms of international law, but they are preparing to seize civilian ships,” he declared.
In his speech, Putin referred to exercises carried out near Helsinki, Finland, with the participation of Finnish, Polish and French forces. During the training, agents approached the Polaris icebreaker from a helicopter and took control of the vessel’s bridge.
According to Finnish authorities, the training seeks to prepare security forces to respond to possible acts of sabotage against underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, including power and telecommunications cables and gas pipelines.
One of the simulated scenarios involved a vessel suspected of causing damage to infrastructure on the seabed. The activity comes after a series of episodes involving submarine cables in the region in recent years.
The president also said that the current escalation of tensions and the war in Ukraine are direct consequences of the West’s refusal to consider Moscow’s security demands and NATO’s military advance towards Russian borders.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
