Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Lavrov: Russia's Accession to NATO "Impossible"


Mon 27 Dec 2021 | 07:50 PM
Ahmed Moamar

Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Monday that there is no way for Russia to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ) because the West does not want to have similar rivals in influence on the world stage.

The Russian (TASS) news agency quoted Lavrov's statement in response to a question about the possibility of joining NATO under certain conditions, saying that he did not assume such an opportunity for Russia.

"I do not consider this possible, because the whole process does not revolve around NATO or the European Union, it is about the West's unwillingness to have any competitor on the international scene comparable to it in the slightest degree of influence," he added.

According to the prominent Russian diplomat, such an attitude of Western countries explains the "hysteria over the rise of China", which accepted the rules of the game introduced into the world economy and "overcame the West in its field".

On the other hand, the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Army, Michael Boden, announced today, Saturday, that Stockholm is ready for "all scenarios for the development of the situation" around Ukraine.

In statements to the Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter", last Saturday, the Swede commander said that he considers the crisis around Ukraine very dangerous.

He added that his country has raised the readiness of its forces to a degree appropriate to the conditions of the current situation, it is dangerous and worrying.

"Of course, we are doing more now, and we are ready to move faster than usual. We are prepared for all scenarios that develop the situation, including those near our borders," he said.

Boden indicated that the measures taken to raise the level of alert include the strategic island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, to which Sweden returned military forces in 2015, in response to a parliament's decision to protect the security of this island from any potential threat.

The Swedish Commander-in-Chief said: "In the conditions of tension in Ukraine and Europe, it is natural that measures to ensure combat readiness also include Gotland and the Baltic Sea. We must be ready to act on various tracks."

"Recently, in Western countries and Ukraine, you hear allegations about a possible "Russian invasion" of Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said previously that these statements are baseless and aimed at escalating the situation.

He noted that Russia does not intend to invade any country. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations to justify these allegations, warning that attempts to resolve the crisis by force in the Donbas region (southeast of Ukraine) would have dire consequences.