NATO admits it's been spoiling for conflict with Russia since 2014

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that increases in deployments and military spending were carried out with Moscow in mind

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Wednesday that increases in military spending and rising numbers of troop deployments in Eastern Europe since 2014 were carried out in anticipation of a conflict with Russia.

Speaking after a meeting of NATO members and partner states in Madrid, Stoltenberg accused Moscow of "using force in the eastern Donbass since 2014," despite the fact that Kiev's forces have been shelling cities in the region ever since the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics declared independence from Ukraine that year.

Nevertheless, Stoltenberg said that the US-led military bloc decided in 2014 to start beefing up its forces in Eastern Europe.

"The reality is also that we have been preparing for this since 2014," he stated. "That is the reason that we have increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance, why NATO allies have started to invest more in defense, and why we have increased [our] readiness."

According to NATO figures, the bloc's European members and Canada have increased their military expenditure by between 1.2% and 5.9% every year since 2014. However, only 10 out of 30 NATO states currently meet the bloc's target of spending 2% of GDP on defense.

The increase in expenditure has been most noticeable in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, with Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania all meeting the target for the first time in 2022.

Earlier on Wednesday, NATO members agreed to adopt a new Strategic Concept. This policy blueprint sets out the alliance's stance toward partners, non-members, and adversaries, with the 2022 iteration naming Russia as the "most significant and direct threat" to the bloc.

On the other hand, Moscow has labeled NATO's expansion into former Soviet states since the end of the Cold War - which Western leaders explicitly promised in the early 1990s would not happen - as a threat against its own security. NATO's official position on Ukraine, set out in the 2008 Bucharest Declaration, is that it and Georgia "will become members of NATO" at an unspecified future date. Russia has cited Ukraine's pursuit of NATO membership as a key factor behind the current conflict.

Despite the alliance's post-Cold War march into the former Eastern Bloc, Stoltenberg claimed on Wednesday that "NATO has strived for a better relationship with Russia for decades."

Reader Comments

oldschoolrider · 2022-07-01T21:45:33Z

photo above is of the new 21st century nazi loving hell bound mortals..

oldschoolrider · 2022-07-02T06:58:43Z

Flora33 not even gonna waste my time, you pple suck, full of shit scam artists.. hell awaits you lot also..

been burned by your lot before, go jump off a high cliff onto some razor wire or a train rack.

Giant Meteor 24 · 2022-07-02T17:19:20Z

oldschoolrider you just wasted your time by replying

ReRan · 2022-07-01T23:14:10Z

So many people greedy for power and control.

Heosphorus · 2022-07-02T04:33:17Z

The only reason-- the only reason --I voted for Trump was because he said that he would disband NATO (and remove troops from Iraq/Syria). You could see the Obamie Admin itching to start a conflict with Russia. Hillary on the campaign trail was calling out Russia and supporting massive troops/weapons deployments to the Russian border. Anyone with a modicum of IQ could see the Global Corporatocracy wanted a contained conflict between U.S. and Russia. I thought the Democrat party insane then...and now I think both parties are insane for supporting an unlimited war effort in the Ukraine with U.S. money, weapons, and guidance. I'm sickened by their actions which benefit no one except the extremely small % whose networth has already tripled since the "Covid Crisis." The same players will be rewarded in much the same manner.

Russia's 100% correct. The U.S. has been itching for a conflict with Russia since 2014. When Ukraine unraveled, I knew they had had their prayers answered.

Suspect · 2022-07-02T05:25:05Z

Heosphorus I completely agree and voted the same for the same reasons. They were chomping at the bit for a war with Russia, practically drooling. Trump said NATO was "obsolete" , that was huge selling point for me, he said we could get along with Russia, promising to pull out of the middle east, among other things of less importance, but opposite of the trend at the time. Then ended up appointing John Bolton!.. I can't quite remember when Hillary pulled that "reset" button stunt, where it actually read, "overcharged", I knew it was a load of crap then, but it became more apparent that a conflict was the goal by 2014, and by 2016 it was overwhelmingly apparent. The war hawks could almost taste that bloody money.

Jennztina · 2022-07-02T05:52:30Z

Suspect This dude Hersyphilis is begging to be curbstomped. Watch this space for more poetry. 😁

Dwoods44 · 2022-07-02T13:25:23Z

What Trump did, I did not vote for him in 2016, is to reveal the corruption and the globalist agenda. What he also did was to throw a wrench into the totalitarian plan mechanism, which caused it to grind to lose the schedule. Losing the 4 years, meant the globalists had to accelerate everything, which made everything visible to the people who question.

What were some of the elements he accomplished: withdraw from the Paris Climate accord, strengthen the Southern border, negotiate a trade deal with China that was beneficial to American business, bring light to election integrity - one day, in person vote, promote oil and gas independence, create Executive Orders to end child trafficking, nominate Federal judges that believed in the Constitution and human rights (gun ownership, freedom of speech, due process)., etc.

He would have accomplished more but the globalists, the Mockingbird media, the corrupt social media, and the corrupt government Congress began their war of propaganda, demonization, Russiagate hoax, Impeachment hoax, lawfare suits, etc. In my view, he is the only person with the strength of character and will to handle the onslaught of negativity directed at him. He did this through the social media until they censored the President of the United States.

religious households, generally, produce more intelligent people than secular ones. "There's an invisible man in the sky who tells me what to do...

ErwinsCat35

That was a lot of blood on that white horse. A good half-pint, at least.

JohnDukes

Ego must serve SOUL. Read this here by a SOTT poster yesterday. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson"

LindaMay

"it is meant to encourage men to come back to Ukraine" It actually sounds more like a threat than encouragement.

ReRan

I read through all KRB and wrote, :O goodness, and all this before breakfast. 🙌 Here is my synthesis. Nature is relationship. Relationship of...

Puppet Masters

NATO admits it's been spoiling for conflict with Russia since 2014

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