Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has accused NATO of deliberately designating Russia as its principal enemy to justify its existence, stating that the bloc “needed a big enemy” and thus cast Russia in that role.
The remarks come amid an increasing number of Ukrainian drone strikes sent deep into Russian territory, which have been condemned for escalating regional tensions. Debris from several drones has recently fallen within NATO member states bordering Russia. Moscow has accused the Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to use their territory for attacks, claims that Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania deny.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with RT on Thursday, Grushko argued that NATO and the EU shifted their approach toward Russia around 2010–2012 after the US-led military bloc wound down its costly Afghanistan mission and refocused on its original Cold War-era purpose of collective defense against an adversary in Europe.
“They needed a big enemy. And since there was none, Russia was appointed to this ‘honorable’ role,” Grushko said, adding that “NATO cannot exist in peaceful conditions – it is like a fish out of water.”
The diplomat maintained that Russia had sought constructive relations with the West but that the 2014 Ukraine crisis and the 2022 escalation ultimately provided NATO and the EU with the rationale to consolidate long-term confrontation with Moscow.
European leaders and intelligence officials have increasingly warned that Russia could attack NATO or EU member states in the coming years, a claim Moscow dismisses as “nonsense.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently asserted that “we are Russia’s next target.”
Since 2022, NATO has expanded battlegroups across Eastern Europe, intensified air and maritime patrols in the Baltics, and increased military exercises near Russian borders. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have also accelerated border fortification projects, including anti-tank defenses and bunker networks.
Grushko noted that the Baltic states had historically been one of Europe’s calmest regions before NATO expansion transformed it into “an arena of confrontation.”
