俄罗斯周四谴责了它认为由美国领导的北约西方军事联盟在多个方面提升其军事能力的努力，而不是与莫斯科进行对话和全球军备控制运动。
俄罗斯外交部发言人玛丽亚·扎哈罗娃谴责北约领导人将“虚构的俄罗斯威胁置于世界其他地区之上”，这也值得讨论。她是针对上周在伦敦召开的北约峰会发表上述言论的。在此次峰会上，70年前的国防协定的领导人聚集在一起讨论战略。
扎哈罗娃在莫斯科告诉记者，这只会增加北约继续采取的越来越多的可疑立场扩展防御能力阻止俄罗斯处于其“危险”议程的首位。
扎哈罗娃补充说:“在威尔士、华沙和布鲁塞尔举行的峰会上采取的这条路线，通过让北约在所有作战领域——陆地、海洋、空中和网络空间——占据主导地位，加剧了紧张局势。现在，空间也被增加了，似乎其他地方没有问题。”。
2018年10月30日，挪威三叉戟演习期间，一架荷兰美洲狮直升机起飞，而北约部队正在准备两栖登陆。该联盟被描述为冷战结束以来规模最大的北约演习，并吹嘘演习是“在空中、陆地、海上和网络空间”进行的罗伯特·昆西/那不勒斯盟军联合部队司令部
上周在伦敦，北约大国申明，它们“正在加强行动，保护我们的海上和空中自由”，并“进一步加强我们的威慑和防御能力，适当结合[的核、常规和导弹防御能力，我们将继续适应这种能力。”
该联盟还“宣布太空是北约的一个行动领域”，宣布加强其“应对网络攻击的工具”的努力，并警告“随着这个由29个成员国组成的组织寻求在现代维护自己的地位，中国的影响力和国际政策正在不断扩大”。
北约成立于1949年，当时打败轴心国的第二次世界大战联盟演变成一场东西方意识形态分裂的冷战。不久后，苏联在其欧洲盟友中发展了与之竞争的华沙条约组织，但该组织于1991年与共产主义集团一起解散。
北约和莫斯科之间的关系在接下来的几十年里有所改善，但是逐渐变酸在俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京执政的20年里。这位长期领导人一直以总统或总理的身份执掌该国，他一直寻求通过增强其军事和外交实力来恢复该国在世界舞台上的主要角色。
与此同时，他寻求与西方对话，并质疑北约在21世纪的相关性，特别是在美国在俄罗斯边境外安装尖端防御系统的时候。自2014年莫斯科对克里米亚半岛有争议的吞并以及据称在乌克兰政治动荡中支持分裂主义者以来，北约和俄罗斯的关系已大幅恶化，导致双方都在集结武器和军队。
随着美国退出1987年《中程核力量条约》，欧洲边境可能很快会出现中程和中程武器的回归，俄罗斯和中国都警告称，这可能引发新的“军备竞赛”
2018年9月15日，在斯拉维亚卡镇外的日本海海岸克雷卡训练场，俄罗斯军队在东方2018(东方2018)军事演习中进行着陆。俄罗斯还举行了自冷战以来最大规模的演习，邻国中国和蒙古也参加了演习。姆拉登·安东诺夫/法新社/盖蒂图片社
值得注意的是，上周的伦敦宣言中没有对新战略武器削减条约(START)发表任何评论，这是华盛顿和莫斯科之间最后一项双边军控协议。俄罗斯官员一再呼吁美国同行延长该协议，该协议限制了两国的大规模核武库，并将于2021年2月到期，但他们表示没有收到任何回应。
北约峰会后一天，普京宣布“俄罗斯准备在今年年底前尽快无任何先决条件地延长《削减战略武器条约》。”周二，俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖拉夫罗夫前往华盛顿会见国务卿麦克庞贝，并重申了这一提议。
然而，他被拒绝了。庞贝认为，有必要达成一项新协议，以应对新兴武器平台等发展，包括中国等其他国家。北京一再声明，它不会成为华盛顿和莫斯科之间任何不扩散协议的一部分，并指出它的核武库规模小得多，也不太先进。
俄罗斯和中国虽然不是正式盟友支撑住了随着北约加强针对双方的努力，相互防御关系、签订更多军事技术合作协议以及在更多军事演习中合作。
RUSSIA CONDEMNS U.S., ALLIES' EFFORTS TO DOMINATE 'LAND, AIR, SEA AND SPACE' RATHER THAN PURSUE TALKS
Russia condemned Thursday what it considers to be efforts by the U.S.-led NATO Western military alliance to advance its military capabilities on multiple fronts rather than engage in dialogue with Moscow and campaign for global arms control.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned NATO leaders for prioritizing "the made-up Russian threat over other regions of the world" that also warrant discussion. She made the remarks in response to NATO's summit last week in London, where the 70-year-old defense pact's leaders gathered to discuss strategy.
Zakharova told reporters in Moscow that this only added to a growing number of questionable positions taken by NATO as it continued to place expanding defense capabilities to deter Russia at the top of its "dangerous" agenda.
"This line taken at summits in Wales, Warsaw and Brussels increased tensions by providing for NATO dominance in all operational areas—on land, sea, air and cyberspace—now space too has been added, as if there were no problems elsewhere," Zakharova added.
A Dutch Cougar helicopter takes off while NATO forces prepare to make an amphibious landing at a media event held during Exercise Trident Juncture in Norway, October 30, 2018. Described as the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War, the alliance boasted the drills took place "in the air, on land, at sea and in cyberspace."
In London last week, NATO powers affirmed they "are increasing action to protect our freedoms at sea and in the air" and are "further strengthening our ability to deter and defend with an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence [sic] capabilities, which we continue to adapt."
The alliance also "declared space an operational domain for NATO," announced efforts to bolster its "tools to respond to cyber attacks" and warned against "China's growing influence and international policies as the 29-member grouping sought to assert itself in the modern era.
NATO was established in 1949 as the World War II Alliance that defeated Axis Powers devolved into a Cold War split along ideological lines between the West and East. Shortly after, the Soviet Union developed the rival Warsaw Pact among its own allies in Europe, but this was dissolved in 1991 along with the communist bloc.
Ties between NATO and Moscow improved in the following decades, but have gradually soured in the 20 years that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in power. The longtime leader, who has since been at the country's helm as either president or prime minister, has sought to reclaim his country's primary role on the world stage by amplifying its military and diplomatic prowess.
At the same time, he's sought dialogue with the West and questioned NATO's relevance in the 21st century, particularly as the U.S. installed sophisticated defense systems off Russia's borders. Since Moscow's controversial annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and alleged support for separatists amid political upheaval in Ukraine in 2014, NATO and Russia's ties have deteriorated considerably, leading both sides to build up weapons and troops.
Europe's frontier may soon see the return of medium-range and intermediate-range weapons with the U.S. exit of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, something both Russia and China warned may spark a new "arms race."
Russian military forces perform a landing during the Vostok-2018 (East-2018) military drills at Klerka training ground on the Sea of Japan coast, outside the town of Slavyanka, September 15, 2018. Russia also held what it called its largest exercise since the Cold War and was joined by neighboring China and Mongolia.
Notably absent from last week's London declaration was any comment on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the last remaining bilateral arms control deal between Washington and Moscow. Russian officials have repeatedly appealed to U.S. counterparts to renew the agreement, which limits the massive nuclear arsenals of both countries and expires in February 2021, but have said they received no response.
A day after the NATO summit, Putin announced that"Russia is ready to immediately, as soon as possible, before the end of this year, without any preconditions, extend the START Treaty." On Tuesday, Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov traveled to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and reaffirmed this offer.
He was rebuffed, however. Pompeo argued that a new deal was necessary to address developments like emerging weapons platforms and including other countries, such as China. Beijing has repeatedly stated it would not be a part of any non-proliferation agreements between Washington and Moscow, pointing out its significantly smaller and less- sophisticated nuclear arsenal.
Although not officially allies, Russia and China have shored up mutual defense ties, entering in more military-technical cooperation agreements and collaborating in more military exercises as NATO steps up efforts targeting both of them.
