MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that Moscow has no plans to initiate an armed conflict with Western Europe and does not pose a threat to any country.
Speaking at a weekly press briefing, Zakharova was responding to remarks by the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. She said that if a senior German intelligence official was presenting personal assumptions publicly, it indicated that Europe was facing a dangerous situation.
Zakharova said Russia was not threatening anyone, adding that President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had repeatedly made clear that Moscow had no intention of starting an armed conflict with Western Europe.
She called on European officials to provide the reasons and evidence behind their claims regarding an alleged Russian threat.
The Russian spokesperson also questioned the basis on which officials making such accusations were determining the motives and reasons behind alleged actions attributed to Russia.
Zakharova accused some European countries of moving rapidly toward militarization, saying the process involved not only expanding the defense industry but also promoting anti-Russian sentiment among European populations and portraying a war with Russia as inevitable.
She said the Russian president had repeatedly made Moscow’s position clear and warned that any aggression against Russia by Western Europe or the European Union would receive a response.
Zakharova added that Putin’s previous statements on the issue could be reviewed to understand the nature of Russia’s potential response.