NATO declares no direct threat from Russia
(Baonghean.vn) - NATO sees no threat from Russia to any of its members, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on January 23 at a press conference in Brussels.
The comments by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg come as a number of countries, including Germany and the Baltic states, have raised concerns about a potential future Russian attack.
“We do not see any immediate or imminent threat to any NATO ally,” Stoltenberg said in response to questions from journalists after signing the large-scale new investments in artillery production. However, he stressed that the US-led military bloc is “closely monitoring what Russia does” and has increased “vigilance and presence in the eastern part of the alliance” to prevent any attacks on allied countries.
Meanwhile, German news agencies have reported in recent weeks that Berlin is preparing for a scenario in which Russia launches an “overt attack” on NATO as early as the summer of 2025 after it scores a major victory in Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also warned on January 22 that his country should be ready to respond to a possible attack from Russia, although there is currently no real threat.
“Deterrence is the only effective means of positioning yourself against an aggressor from the start,” Pistorius told ZDF, calling on Germany and its NATO allies to commit to boosting their military capabilities. Similar concerns have been raised by other NATO members, such as Estonia, where Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the bloc had three to five years to prepare for a possible direct confrontation with Russia.
Moscow has rejected any accusations that it intends to attack any NATO member as “complete nonsense”, while President Vladimir Putin argued that Russia has “no geopolitical, economic… or military interests” in doing so.
At the same time, the Kremlin has for decades expressed concern that the continued eastward expansion of the US and its NATO allies poses an existential threat to Russia. Moscow cited this expansion, as well as its refusal to exclude Ukraine from future NATO membership, as the main reasons for launching its attack on Kiev in February 2022./.
