National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Documentary photo: AFP/VNA
According to Russia’s RT station on January 26, at a regular press conference, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)NATO) – the US-led military alliance – has enough force to repel a possible Russian attack on the bloc’s eastern flank in the event of a serious escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
“All I can tell you is that we have absolutely no indication that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin intends to attack NATO territory,” Kirby replied.
Mr. Kirby also stressed that US President Joe Biden was “seriously complying with the commitments in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty (on the creation of NATO)”, which stipulates that member countries “agree that an offensive Military action once morest one or more NATO countries in Europe or North America would be considered an attack once morest all member states.
Kirby noted that Washington has deployed an additional 20,000 US troops in Europe, bringing the total to 100,000, and expressed confidence that NATO has the capacity, energy, talent, manpower and resources to carry out the task. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
Theo RT, that has repeatedly described the US military presence on the eastern flank of NATO as a threat. At the end of October 2022, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that “the closer the US military is to our borders, the more dangerous we are”.
Mr. Kirby also said the US was paying attention to the red lines drawn by Moscow in Ukraine, adding: “We don’t take anything lightly when they say that. And we don’t deny it.”
In the fall of 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned Washington that the delivery of long-range weapons to Kiev would cross a “red line” and make the US “a direct party to the conflict”.
On January 24, Dmitry Polyansky, Moscow’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, suggested that while the West has ignored some of Moscow’s warnings, “maybe the reddest[lines]are.” has not yet been surpassed.”
The next day, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that all “talks regarding red lines are a thing of the past,” pointing out that conflict in Ukraine It is a “hybrid war” waged by the West once morest Russia.
Top Russian officials have repeatedly described what is happening in Ukraine as a proxy war between Russia and NATO rather than a mere conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on January 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “both NATO and the US are certainly participating in this conflict, albeit indirectly, through proxies (Ukraine). )”.
According to Peskov, although both Washington and Brussels insist that they do not intend to participate in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, “in fact, they have become an indirect party” in that conflict. .
The reason is that the US and its allies, including NATO member states, have “pumped Ukraine full of weapons, (shared) technology and intelligence data …”, so, ” Their involvement in this conflict is clear”.
The secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, also said that “events in Ukraine are not a confrontation between Moscow and Kiev”, but a confrontation between NATO – “first of all the US and England” – with Russia.
