NATO says it is not after a new Cold War with Russia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected claims that the military alliance is provoking a new conflict with Moscow, saying, however, that it is alarmed by Russia’s intensified military deployment near its western borders.

“Russia is our neighbor, Russia is here to stay, we don’t want to isolate Russia, NATO doesn’t want a new Cold War, our actions are designed to prevent, not provoke, conflict,” said Stoltenberg on Monday while addressing an annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest, Romania.

The remarks come as Russia and NATO continue to blame each other for tensions in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions erupted in Ukraine following the overthrow of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 and were further escalated after people in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted for unification with Russia in March 2014 while Kiev government troops and pro-Russia forces got engaged in a military conflict that has so far left over 10,000 people dead. The West has accused Russia of having a hand in the protracted conflict. Moscow has denied the claims.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO’s east-ward expansion and its deployment of troops near Russia’s borders would provoke a serious conflict.

Stoltenberg said NATO’s increased deployment near Russia’s borders were a response to Moscow’s alleged activities in Ukraine.

“Our deployments are a direct response to Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine,” he said, claiming “NATO’s actions are defensive, proportionate and entirely in line with our international commitments.”

The top NATO official said the organization was still concerned about Russia’s military activity on its eastern edge, repeating previous allegations that Moscow was not transparent when it came to massive military drills it holds in the area.

“We are concerned by Russia’s military build-up close to our borders and its lack of transparency when it comes to military exercises such as Zapad 2017,” Stoltenberg said in reference to a September drill between Russia and Belarus, which NATO says involved some 100,000 troops. Russia denied the claim and put the total number of troops in the drill at around 10,000.