LONDON (Reuters) – NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg rejected accusations the Western alliance was provoking Moscow with its military exercises in the Black Sea, and blamed Russia in turn for having used military drills as a disguise for attacking neighbouring countries.
In contrast to Russia, NATO was always following international regulations on inviting foreign observers to its drills, the alliance’s secretary-general told the Reuters Next conference on Wednesday.
“The problem with Russia is that they are not transparent, that they have a very aggressive rhetoric and a track record showing they have used military exercises before as a disguise for aggressive actions against neighbours,” he said.
(Reporting by Mark Bendeich; Writing by Sabine Siebold; Editing by John Chalmers)