Kremlin says NATO encroaching on Russia's security

MOSCOW

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that NATO sees Russia as an opponent and encroaches on its security.

"We are dealing with an aggressive bloc that views our country as an opponent and encroaches on the security of our country," Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

Commenting on Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's remarks that NATO members agree Ukraine should eventually join the military alliance, Peskov said: "NATO continues its policy of absorbing and drawing Ukraine into the alliance. Our president spoke about this and this potential threat long before the start of his campaign."

"And all this once again demonstrates the correctness of the president's decision to launch this operation, based on the interests of the Russian Federation and the need to ensure its security," he stressed.

Asked about the decision of the Kyiv City Council to terminate the lease agreement with the Russian Embassy, Peskov said Moscow will respond to the move and "relevant measures will be taken."

Peskov warned that anti-Russian sanctions by G-7 countries, the EU, and the US will affect the global economy as well.

"We proceed from the fact that in any case, both the current sanctions that have been imposed against our country and the new additional steps that Brussels and Washington are probably thinking about now, they will, of course, hit the global economy as well. Therefore, this can only lead to an increase in trends towards a global economic crisis," he argued.

Peskov slammed as "fake" a Washington Post article about Russia's alleged interference in Germany's internal affairs. "We have never interfered before, and now we really don't have time for that," he stressed.

The official once again reiterated that there were no plans for a new wave of military mobilization in Russia.