Medvedev: NATO expansion poses existential threat to Russia

NATO represents a hostile military alliance whose continuous expansion poses a direct threat to Russia's survival, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published Tuesday, August 25, with the South Ossetian newspaper Yuzhnaya Osetiya.

Medvedev, who also serves as chairman of the ruling United Russia party, highlighted Western discussions regarding future alliance membership for former Soviet states as a primary concern for Moscow.

“I have already mentioned the North Atlantic Alliance. This military-political bloc, hostile to us, does not merely continue to exist, but is only constantly expanding. Plans are voiced to admit new members to NATO from post-Soviet countries — now Georgia, now Ukraine. How should we react? It is completely obvious that all of this creates an existential threat for Russia,” Medvedev said.

Moscow has repeatedly cited NATO’s eastward expansion as a red line, maintaining that potential accessions near its borders undermine regional stability and compel Russian counteractions.

By Tamilla Hasanova