MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The new master plan being drawn up by NATO will drastically influence the alliance's relations with Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
"The alliance is now entering the phase of drafting a new strategic concept. Literally a few days ago, [NATO Secretary General] Jens Stoltenberg, when commenting on this issue, outlined some elements that will be included in it. The first element is that the alliance will curtail its military operations abroad and will focus on strengthening the sustainability of the alliance's member states. If this is translated into ordinary language, this means that they will be preparing to defend against a greater adversary. And the second thing he said is that one cannot separate the Chinese threat from the Russian threat, but should view it as one Chinese-Russian threat," Grushko told the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel.
"The alliance will evolve in this direction, which will also drastically impact the very nature of relations between Russia and NATO," he said.
When asked whether this strategy may put further strain on relations between Russia and the alliance, Grushko said that "it is difficult to make worse something that practically does not exist today."
"By its latest activities, the alliance has considerably broadened the horizons of our understanding regarding the possible extent of such deterioration," he said, reiterating the unacceptability of the expulsion of eight employees of the Russian mission to the alliance.
At the same time, Russia will continue maintaining normal contacts with the capitals of NATO countries, and the channels of the dialogue on European security will be preserved, Grushko said.