Nato accused of plotting Russia regime change

MOSCOW

Russia’s permanent envoy to Nato Aleksandr Grushko has accused the Western nations’ alliance of planning to stir a revolution in his country.

He said the latest statements by the deputy head of Nato testify to the fact that the leaders of the bloc want to intervene in Russia’s internal politics, and are “dreaming of Russian Maidan.”

“The speech in Riga demonstrates the concern about Russia’s democracy and internal policy. At last, now we know that Nato has a dream, and this dream is a Maidan in Russia,” he said in a comment that was tweeted through the Russian representation office in the alliance.

Mr Grushko referred to the words of Nato’s deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, who had told a conference in the Latvian capital Riga that President Vladimir Putin “aim seems to be to turn Ukraine into a failed state and to suppress and discredit alternative voices in Russia, so as to prevent a Russian ‘Maidan.’”

Both officials used the Ukrainian word ‘Maidan’ to describe a string of protest actions that eventually turned into mass unrest and the ousting of the legally elected president and parliament.

“By demonising Russia, Nato creates a virtual reality, disconnecting itself from real threats to security,” the Russian envoy said.

Mr Grushko added that Nato itself has used “hybrid warfare” against foreign states and now the alliance is attempting to accuse Russia of starting such a war in Ukraine.

“Nato has a long history of hybrid operations. Any country or organization can take a lesson from it. We have earlier seen these signs of military intimidation, hidden involvement, weapons supplies, economic blackmail, diplomatic duplicity, mass media manipulations and open disinformation,” the Russian envoy said.

“The statement made in Riga is yet another set of arguments seeking only to justify Nato’s confrontational attitude to Russia.”

In October last year, Mr Grushko urged Western nations to acknowledge their policy faults and improve relations with Russia.

Meanwhile, President Putin on Tuesday said Russia would extend the current gas deal with Ukraine by another three months, hours before it was due to expire.

In a meeting on Tuesday with Mr Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Kiev has asked to extend the deal signed in October which expires at midnight. “Let’s do it,” Putin responded.

He said the deal “would be active for another three months” after which Russia will review it taking into account the “volatile oil prices on global markets.”

Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak said earlier this month that the price Moscow is setting for Ukraine will be $348 per 1,000 cubic metres .

(AFP, Agencies)