PRESS RELEASE

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Russia Continues To Lay Down Heavy Political Covering Fire in Run-Up to NATO Summit

July 6, 2016 (EIRNS)—Russian government officials continue to slam at NATO’s provocative policies, on the eve of the July 8-9 NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland. At a press conference today, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin described his discussions with NATO officials in the following way:

"One by one, they are normal guys, but when they gather together—they are devil incarnates. It is a relic of the Cold War. What they are doing now toward Russia, its allies, its partners—this is really going too far. They are openly building up not as much military capabilities as military rhetoric,"

Rogozin said.

"NATO is not a useful organization. NATO should have been dissolved long ago, and the Russian president talked about it. In principle, this organization was set up exclusively for conflicts, for wars, for aggravating the situation,"

Rogozin concluded.

In a similar vein, Anton Mazur, the head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna OSCE conference on arms reduction, stated yesterday:

"Despite our warnings of counter-productivity and risks of NATO’s eastwards expansion, the borders of the biggest military bloc have nearly reached Russian borders. Works have started in the territory of new members to develop military infrastructure. New formats of military activities have been launched on the ground, in the air and at sea, including a mission on air patrolling and multinational exercises."

He added that the BMD facilities in Romania and Poland mean that NATO

"has embarked on a practical track. Non-nuclear countries, including those of Eastern Europe, take part in NATO’s nuclear drills. The alliance is using confrontational schemes in the Baltic and Black Seas as well. Thus, NATO’s steps provoked risks and challenges to Russia’s security interests even before the current crisis in Russia-NATO relations. It has seriously undermined trust."