
Commenting on NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercise, the largest since the end of the Cold War, he noted that this was "playing with fire in a very dangerous way."
"We don't plan to attack any of the bloc's members. This is clear to all reasonable people in the West. However, if they get carried away playing and encroach on our country's integrity, they will immediately receive an appropriate response," Medvedev pointed out. According to him, "it will mean one thing - a big war that NATO won't be able to dodge."
NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercise is being held in Europe from February to May. Thirty-one member states and NATO hopeful Sweden are taking part in the drills. The bloc's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia Javier Colomina said in an interview with the Armenpress news agency that the drills are aimed at deterring Russia, which the alliance views as a threat.



Comment: About the exercise, see:
- Poland & Lithuania to hold joint military exercises on borders near Russia's Kaliningrad enclave in the Suwałki Gap
- NATO set to mobilize 90,000 soldiers for biggest drill since Cold War, rehearsing rapid US deployment near Russia's borders
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