“In 2022, the Atlantic Alliance broke off all contact with Moscow. Only an emergency communication channel remained. They tried to reduce all dialogue to the Ukrainian situation,” the diplomat asserted.

He also argued that the freezing of relations began in 2014, when Russia insisted on discussing specific issues related to its eastward expansion, but NATO representatives focused solely on Ukraine.

“Our initiatives to reduce military tensions in Europe were not well received by the military bloc.

Our attempt to initiate serious talks on mutual security guarantees—we proposed a draft agreement of this kind to the North Atlantic group in December 2021—also failed to elicit a positive response at NATO headquarters in Brussels,” Maslennikov commented.

In this regard, he specified that all the steps taken leading up to the complete breakdown of exchanges demonstrate that NATO representatives are preparing for a direct conflict with Russia.

“Currently, Russia is designated in all of the North Atlantic Alliance’s doctrinal documents as ‘the most significant and direct threat to security.’

It is emphasized that this will remain the case in the long term, even if the Ukrainian conflict is resolved,” he insisted.

In this respect, Maslennikov emphasized that, based on its actions, it is easy to predict that the Western military bloc is preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia.

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