NATO, Russia on march toward war: Analyst

The military expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has put the US-led alliance on a path toward military confrontation with Russia, says an American political analyst.

Frank Rose, deputy assistant secretary of state for arms control, said Tuesday that NATO will not comply with Russian demands to limit the alliance’s missile systems, citing the threat posed by North Korea as the main reason.

Rose’s comments came days after North Korea claimed last week that the country has now “proudly joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states” by testing its first hydrogen bomb.

Moscow does not look favorably upon the deployment of missiles and nuclear weapons in NATO states near its borders, accusing the organization of a gradual expansion.

“It is not entirely surprising that NATO is not really listening at all to Russian concerns at this point since they have pushed the situation so much to a point of virtual confrontation,” William Jones told Press TV on Thursday.

Jones, the Washington bureau chief for the Executive Intelligence Review, noted that NATO has “marched towards war” considering the measures it has taken over the past decade.

By expanding its military presence into countries that were once a part of the Soviet Union, and across Eastern and Central Europe, NATO has created an “enemy” on Russia’s borders, the analyst noted.

“This of course had led to a major military buildup on the part of Russia as we have seen in their latest national security document,” Jones explained.

The new edition of Moscow’s military doctrine, signed by President Vladimir Putin in December 2015, states that NATO’s militarization and military buildup pose a national security threat to Russia which requires an appropriate response.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Tuesday that the nation will form three new army divisions this year to reinforce the Russian military in the western part of the country.

Jones said Russia has, more than once, attempted to calm the tensions by requesting NATO to negotiate the issue.

“But at this point, it is like what we used to call a game of chicken, when two cars facing each other are moving at high speeds to see who is going to flinch; and, that is an extremely dangerous situation,” he added.

Jones denounced as “hogwash” the US claims that NATO’s missile deployments in Europe are to curb possible threats from North Korea.

He said Washington tends to use such claims to strengthen its alliances and buildup its military capabilities “allegedly to meet a North Korean threat.”

“But the Chinese know, as the Russians know, this is not a question of North Korea, it is really a question of them,” Jones noted.

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