Russia blames NATO expansion for collapse in Euro-Atlantic trust
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Senior Russian diplomat Sergey Ryabkov says NATO expansion triggered a crisis in Euro-Atlantic security, complicating arms control and US-Russia talks.
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Russian Diplomat Sergey Ryabkov in this undated photo (AP)
Senior Russian diplomat Sergey Ryabkov has said that NATO expansion is the root cause of the current breakdown in Euro-Atlantic security, warning that the West ignored clear warnings from Moscow and dismantled the foundations of post-Cold War stability.
In a wide-ranging interview, Ryabkov asserted that NATO's encroachment on Russia’s borders has contributed directly to the ongoing conflict and strained US-Russia relations.
The issue of NATO expansion and Russia's red lines has become a central theme in Moscow's diplomatic posture, particularly following the alliance’s continued attempts to expand to Ukraine and Georgia, as well as Sweden and Finland’s recent integration. “The current state of affairs in the Euro-Atlantic area is a direct consequence of the West’s unilateral actions and failure to respect our concerns,” Ryabkov said.
According to Ryabkov, the original intent of Euro-Atlantic institutions was to establish a collective framework of mutual security. However, he said, NATO's transformation into a vehicle for US influence marked a departure from these principles. “The trust built after the Cold War was systematically undermined,” Ryabkov noted, adding that the West chose confrontation over cooperation.
He argued that NATO's military infrastructure moving closer to Russian borders forced Moscow to take defensive measures. The Russian official stated that the alliance’s activities in Eastern Europe, including rotational deployments and joint exercises, have fed into a security dilemma that could have been avoided.
Russia says West ignored warnings on red lines
The senior diplomat emphasized that Russia had warned the West on numerous occasions about the consequences of NATO expansion. These warnings, he said, were repeatedly ignored. “We have always been transparent about our red lines,” Ryabkov explained. “It was the US and its allies that chose to escalate.”
The tension between Russia and NATO is part of a broader collapse in mutual trust, which Ryabkov said has “completely eroded” any sense of common ground between Moscow and Western capitals. He linked the deterioration not just to military decisions but also to information campaigns and what he described as the West’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s legitimate security interests.
Ryabkov also warned that the current climate complicates any prospects for renewed arms control negotiations with the United States. Despite some limited contacts, the Russian official said the broader atmosphere remains unconstructive. “We are not ruling out dialogue,” he noted, “but it must be on equal terms and with mutual respect.”
The collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the suspension of New START inspections, and the breakdown of diplomatic dialogue have all been shaped, Ryabkov said, by the same strategic assumptions that drove NATO expansion and contributed to the Ukraine conflict.
As tensions between NATO and Russia continue to deepen, the Kremlin's position remains unchanged: the alliance's expansion is seen not as a defensive measure, but as a provocation that has destabilized the entire Euro-Atlantic region.
