Peskov: Non-expansion of NATO to the east is a “matter of life and death” for Russia

The topic of security guarantees from NATO is “a matter of life and death” for Russia. This was stated on the air of the TV channel “Russia-1” by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

“Over the past two decades, perhaps even more, they have methodically deceived us, and as a result of this deception we have come to a situation where our security is under threat: it is under the threat of the continuation of this very deception, under the threat of further expansion, both political and military. NATO infrastructure towards our borders, ”he said.

According to Peskov, the spread of NATO to Ukraine and other countries that were on the territory of the Soviet Union “is already a question, well, in fact, life and death for us.”

“We see what NATO is doing, we see maneuvers at our borders, we see the delivery of a huge amount of equipment. They are imported through Greece in other directions as well. This technique begins to penetrate the territory of Ukraine, military instructors, of whom there are already several thousand, begin to call in there. Gradually NATO penetrates into the territory of Ukraine, and then in fact only the formalization of this process will remain, ”he added.

Earlier, Russian head of state Vladimir Putin said that if the US and NATO refuse to provide security guarantees, Moscow’s response may be different.

“It can be very different. It depends on the proposals that our military experts will make to me, ”he said.

According to media reports, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg decided to hold the Russia-NATO Council on January 12. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed her readiness for a direct dialogue with NATO on the Russian draft agreements on security guarantees.