PRESS RELEASE
New Russian Naval Doctrine Responds to ‘Unacceptable’ NATO Moves
July 29, 2015 (EIRNS)—The Saker, a pro-Russian blogger who lives in Florida, posted a very useful note on the new Russian maritime doctrine that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on July 26. On the whole, he says, "there is nothing earth shattering in this document," but there is one line that deserves attention. That line, according to his translation from the Russian, reads as follows:
"A defining factor in [our] relations with NATO remains that for Russia the following is unacceptable: the alliance’s plan to move its infrastructure to the borders of Russia and the attempts to give the alliance a global role."
The Saker notes that the Russians are extremely precise in their use of words, so,
"when this official, President-approved, document says that it is unacceptable for Russia that NATO is trying to grant itself a global role, this is at least as official a statement as any public declaration by Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov."
Lavrov was not present at the meeting on board the Russian Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov when the doctrine was approved. Sitting at the table with Putin, as shown in the photograph posted on the Kremlin webiste, were Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian Navy commander Adm. Victor Chirkov, and Western Military District Commander Gen. Anatolii Sidorov. "In other words, these are the men who would be in charge of fighting NATO should a war break-up [sic]," the Saker writes. The message, here, is not directed at President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, or any other Western leader, nor at public opinion in those countries, but rather,
"it is a message sent to those who will carefully analyze this document and this event: US and NATO defense analysts and their bosses and, for them, the message is very clear: we will not let you prevail."
The Russian warning, the Saker continues, "is clearly tied to current hostile actions by NATO, namely placing NATO forces on the Russian border and trying to become a global, planetary, police force or, better, colonial pacification and authority enforcement force."
Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, issued a warning, yesterday, on the possible expansion of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia, that should probably be considered in the context that The Saker describes. "Any political game around issues of NATO expansion to Georgia and Ukraine can entail the most serious and deepest geopolitical consequences for Europe as a whole," Grushko told Life News, reports Tass. "It will have catastrophic consequences. More than that, it will have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine," the ambassador stressed.
