{"id":6054,"date":"2026-05-28T20:26:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=6054"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:45:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:45:57","slug":"nato-without-conflict-is-like-a-fish-out-of-water-russian-deputy-fm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/28\/nato-without-conflict-is-like-a-fish-out-of-water-russian-deputy-fm\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO without conflict is \u2018like a fish out of water\u2019 \u2013 Russian deputy FM"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bloc \u201cneeded a big enemy\u201d and deliberately cast Russia as a long-term threat, Alexander Grushko has told RT<\/strong><\/p>\n

NATO requires confrontation to justify its existence, which is why it designated Russia as its principal enemy in Europe, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has said.<\/p>\n

The remarks come as an increasing number of Ukrainian drone raids are sent deep inside Russia, while the debris of several drones have recently fallen in 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.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an exclusive interview to RT on Thursday, Grushko argued that NATO and the EU radically shifted their approach toward Russia around 2010\u20132012, as 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey needed a big enemy. And since there was none, Russia was appointed to this \u2018honorable\u2019 role,\u201d<\/em> Grushko said, adding that \u201cNATO cannot exist in peaceful conditions \u2013 it is like a fish out of water.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Czech
NATO must \u2018show its teeth\u2019 to Russia \u2013 Czech president<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The diplomat argued that Russia had sought constructive relations with the West, but that the 2014 Ukraine crisis and the 2022 escalation ultimately gave NATO and the EU the rationale needed to consolidate long-term confrontation with Moscow.<\/p>\n

European leaders and intelligence officials have increasingly claimed that Russia could attack NATO or EU member states in the coming years, something Moscow has repeatedly dismissed as \u201cnonsense.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte claimed in December that \u201cwe are Russia\u2019s next target.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Since 2022, NATO has expanded battlegroups across Eastern Europe, intensified air and maritime patrols in the Baltics, and increased military exercises near Russia\u2019s borders. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have also accelerated border fortification projects, including anti-tank defenses and bunker networks.<\/p>\n

Grushko, however, argued the Baltics had historically been one of Europe\u2019s calmest regions before NATO expansion transformed it into \u201can arena of confrontation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Watch the full interview with the Russian deputy foreign minister below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bloc \u201cneeded a big enemy\u201d and deliberately cast Russia as a long-term threat, Alexander Grushko has told RT NATO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6054"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6054"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6058,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6054\/revisions\/6058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}