A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of devising a “plan” that could end up having NATO fight Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Austin revealed “in a Freudian slip” that the US has plans for NATO to attack Russia if it wins its war in Ukraine, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.
Lavrov’s comments came after Austin warned in a House Armed Services Committee hearing that Putin will not stop and “take more aggressive action in the region” if Moscow wins its war with Kyiv.
Austin said on Thursday that Putin’s actions will lead to a head-on conflict with NATO nations, indicating that Russia may strike one of NATO’s Baltic members – Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia.
Austin said: “If you’re a Baltic state, you’re really worried about whether or not you’re next. They know Putin, they know what he’s capable of. And quite frankly, if Ukraine falls, I really believe that NATO will be in a fight with Russia.”
Lavrov claimed in a diplomatic conference in Antalya on Friday that Austin had unintentionally “blurred out” American plans to have NATO attack Russia.
Lavrov said: “The meaning of this statement is that if Ukraine loses, NATO will have to go against Russia. In a Freudian slip he blurted out what they had in mind. Before that, everyone was saying: We can’t let Ukraine lose, because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not stop at this and will take over the Baltics, Poland, Finland.”
“But it turns out, according to Mr. Austin’s open, unambiguous statement, it’s the other way round. We do not have such plans and cannot have them, but the Americans do,” he added.
Article Five of the NATO’s founding treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty, emphasizes “the principle of collective defense” and states that “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America” will be considered as “an attack against them all,” indicating that the NATO alliance will attack Russia if one of the Baltic states are in danger as Austin warned.
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Article Five of the NATO’s founding treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty, emphasizes “the principle of collective defense” and states that “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America” will be considered as “an attack against them all,” indicating that the NATO alliance will attack Russia if one of the Baltic states are in danger as Austin warned.
The former minister also accused the Biden administration of “dragging Ukraine into NATO,” according to TASS.
Ukraine and some of its strongest advocates within NATO have been pushing the military alliance to formally invite Kyiv to become a member for more than a decade.
Jon Stoltenberg said in a statement last week that he advocates for Ukraine’s membership in NATO, adding that Kyiv is “now closer to NATO than ever before.”
The foreign minister also accused the White House of devising a plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline in order to strengthen its own economy, and at the same time, undermine the European Union’s.
Lavrov said: “All major expenses have been shifted to Europe. People are living increasingly worse, energy resources have rocketed in price manyfold, compared with what it could have been if the Americans had not blown up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.”
He claimed that because of US policy, Europe is no longer a “competitor” or “too strong of a rival.”
Lavrov added: “All the main businesses and manufacturing industry are moving to the US, where conditions are completely different and energy is much cheaper.”
This latest statement is a continuation of heightened tension between Putin and NATO, who have since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over two years ago.
Putin and other Kremlin leaders’ have repeatedly expressed their concerns about NATO expansion months prior to the invasion, which they claimed was triggered by a “provocation” of the Western military alliance.
The Kremlin’s concerns about NATO expanding its European borders have mounted, with Finland becoming a member last year and Sweden – its membership have been recently approved by Hungary – is poised to join the alliance sometime this year.
Putin said during his annual State of the Nation address on Thursday that any deployment of Western troops to Ukraine could lead to nuclear conflict.
“We have all the tools for this that no one else can boast of having,” Putin warned, seemingly referring to nuclear weapons. “We won’t boast about it: We will use them if needed and I want everyone to know that. We have already taken all the decisions on this.”
