Source: NBC News
MUNICH, Germany – Russia on Saturday accused world powers of fighting “a new Cold War” as Moscow came under pressure from the United States and NATO over its actions in Syria and Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev painted a grim picture of relations with the West, telling the Munich Security Conference that NATO’s stance on Russia remained “unfriendly and opaque.”
“One could go so far as to say we have slid back to a new Cold War,” he told a packed auditorium of ministers and policymakers. “Sometimes I wonder whether it is 2016 we are living in, or 1962.”
His comments came as NATO general secretary Jens Stoltenberg told the same conference that Russia is “destabilizing the European security order”. Stoltenberg said that as a result of the Ukraine conflict, NATO allies are taking the greatest effort for collective defense in decades”.
Russia’s actions are “aimed at intimidating its neighbors,” Stoltenberg said.
Secretary of State John Kerry added to the criticism, saying the majority of Russia’s bombings in Syria had been against legitimate opposition groups.
Medvedev said that only regular cooperation between Moscow and the United States could settle the situation in Syria, and repeated Russia’s denials that it is bombing civilians who are opposed to President Bashar Assad.
Categories: Asia, Europe, Germany, Middle East, Russia, Syria, The Muslim Times