Russia has strongly reacted to NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises involving about 90,000 troops. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko sharply criticised the military exercises in an interaction with the state RIA news agency in remarks published on Sunday.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister called out the exercises, terming it as "irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes".
"These exercises are another element of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia," Grushko told RIA as quoted by news agency Reuters.
"An exercise of this scale ... marks the final and irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes, when the military planning process, resources and infrastructure are being prepared for confrontation with Russia," added Grushko.
NATO said on Thursday it was launching its largest exercise since the Cold War involving some 90,000 troops. The exercise is aimed at rehearsing how US troops could aid European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank in a situation of a conflict. However, the alliance didn't mention Russia by name in its announcement.
Notably, Russia is involved in a war against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been trying to secure NATO membership for his country. Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, NATO and the US have been providing financial and military aid to Ukraine.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, Russia is involved in a war against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been trying to secure NATO membership for his country. Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, NATO and the US have been providing financial and military aid to Ukraine.
{{/usCountry}}The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war started with Russian invasion in February 2022. Both sides have lost thousands of soldiers in the devastating hostility. Russia claims to have occupied several regions of Ukrainian territory and it has announced plans to hold elections as part of the 2024 Russian presidential election.
With inputs from news agencies