CSTO chief: Russia, NATO confront directly

 
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, April 24, 2014
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Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have arrived at the state of direct confrontation, head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said Wednesday.

Pro-Russian activists gather in front of the government building in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, April 9, 2014. A group of pro-Russian activists, who had seized government buildings in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, proclaimed the region's independence from Kiev on Monday, local media reported. [Dai Tianfang/Xinhua] 

"In fact, due to some NATO countries' actions, we are heading to, and we have reached the level of direct confrontation," Nikolai Bordyuzha told reporters following a meeting of CSTO Security Councils' officials in the Chechen capital of Grozny.

Among those actions the Russian chief mentioned anti-Moscow sanctions, presence of NATO warships in the Black Sea and attempts of Ukrainian ultra-nationalists to sneak into Russia for subversive activity.

Bordyuzha called these actions a "psychological attack" which provokes further rise of tension.

He noted that the CSTO has not been involved into events in Ukraine and does not want other international blocs to do so.

In March, Bordyuzha criticized NATO's "self-propaganda" through the Ukraine crisis, saying that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen promoted himself through Ukrainian domestic political problems.

Fresh unrest erupted in Ukraine's east early April, when pro- Moscow activists seized government buildings in several cities, demanding a referendum on autonomy and closer ties with Russia. Ukraine accused Russia of supporting the unrest, a move denied by Moscow.

Taking into account changing situation in the world, the CSTO might reconsider its objectives, both on the regional and global level, Bordyuzha said.

On Tuesday, the official said the CSTO did not take the recent NATO military build-up as an immediate threat, focusing on the more immediate threats instead, like extremism in the bloc's countries and the volatile situation in Afghanistan.

Russia currently chairs the CSTO which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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