During her latest briefing, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, paid special attention to the “National Strategic Review” published in France:
“What is seriously worrying is how deliberately this document instills the idea of the probability, and even inevitability, of a Russian “attack” on the European Union and NATO in 2030, for which, they say, they need to have time to prepare. NATO is given the central place in deterring potential Russian “aggression”. However they forgot to say that now they will be chipping in 5% of their GDP to the United States, but still, some alliance must protect them. Against the backdrop of the US shifting its attention to the Asia-Pacific region, the emphasis is also on strengthening “European strategic autonomy”, with France and its military-industrial complex playing a leading role. Autonomy from whom? You just signed “bills” for 5% of GDP in favour of the US. From whom are you autonomous?”
What a brazen manipulation! The mouthpiece of the Kremlin propaganda simply replaces NATO with the USA, in spite of the fact that this state is only one of the members of the organization. Zakharova said that the military expenditures of the Alliance countries, which should be increased to 5% of GDP, will go directly to the US budget. Such an absurd and blatant lie is the most important part of such statements by Zakharova. It seems that the propaganda directive to talk about the control of Europe by the United States has become relevant again. Although just a month ago, the Kremlin heralds were talking about the insurmountable contradictions in the policies of the EU and the USA.
Notice how cleverly Putin’s propaganda changed its shoes after the NATO summit in The Hague. As soon as Donald Trump confirmed Washington’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic security and achieved a declaration of increased military spending by its allies, the United States, from a reliable historical partner of Moscow that could help “calm down the warmongers from the European Union” immediately turned back into a treacherous enemy provoking a war against Russia with the help of European NATO states.
And of course, it was not without the classic shifting of responsibility for Russia’s aggressive policy against Western countries onto them. The persistence and frequency with which Moscow tries to prove the absence of plans for further escalation against EU and NATO states can only indicate the opposite.
