Russian PM: West is rekindling Cold War with NATO moves

Associated Press

MUNICH

Russia’s prime minister accused NATO on Saturday of restarting the Cold War amid increased military maneuvers and troop deployments to countries neighboring Russia, moves the alliance’s top official defended as a necessary response to aggression from Moscow.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a meeting of top defense officials, diplomats and national leaders that sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and new moves by NATO “only aggravate” tensions.

The comments came after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Munich Security Conference that “Russia’s rhetoric, posture and exercises of its nuclear forces are aimed at intimidating its neighbors, undermining trust and stability in Europe.”

Speaking after Medvedev, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry fired back that Europe and the United States would continue to “stand up to Russia’s repeated aggression” and noted that in addition to a joint focus on Ukraine, Washington plans to quadruple spending to help European security.