The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, indicated that "Russia closely monitors all NATO maneuvers, explaining that NATO's rhetoric and exercises are elements of hybrid warfare against Russia." The spokesperson noted that "the lion's share of the alliance's drills is specifically designed to implement scenarios for confronting the Russian Federation."
Zakharova added that "the Russian side carefully observes all NATO exercises and primarily concludes that the rhetoric and training of NATO forces are components of a hybrid war launched by the collective West against our country."
She mentioned that "Russia has drawn attention to a number of statements made in recent days by senior military officials in NATO, particularly what was mentioned by NATO Deputy Commander Admiral Tim Henry, regarding the goal of the drills in Northern Europe being to send a signal to Moscow about the alliance's determination to protect its territories."
She continued: "For NATO, confronting Russia and its alleged aggression is the aim of its existence." Zakharova added that without Russia, "it would be difficult to justify the need for this military organization to Europeans and North America, as well as the trillions of dollars spent each year on military needs at the expense of addressing social and economic problems."
