KABUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has sharply criticized NATO’s policies, saying the military alliance lost its original legitimacy and purpose following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Lavrov said NATO should have been dissolved at the same time as the Warsaw Pact, but argued that the alliance sought new justifications to maintain its existence. He said NATO initially used its military mission in Afghanistan to justify its continued presence.
He claimed that following NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, the alliance replaced the former Soviet threat narrative with a new scenario portraying Russia as a “threat.”
The Russian foreign minister warned that NATO is now seeking to shift its military and intelligence infrastructure toward Asia, which he said could further expand the alliance’s military presence and increase tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.