Breedlove's statements on Russian threat aimed at NATO countries' taxpayers - Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The statement of former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Phillip Breedlove that Russia is "a recurring existential threat to international order" is aimed at wheedling money out of taxpayers for the maintenance of American troops in Europe, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
"The aim of all these insinuations is to persuade the NATO countries' taxpayers to part with their money more easily for the deployment and maintenance of, first of all, the American troops in Europe," he told reporters on Monday.
He said that "as the NATO summit in Warsaw [on July 8], where the adoption of the decision to deploy four NATO battalions at Russian borders is planned, draws closer, the number of Russophobic rallying cries from the 'political pensioners' will increase in the West."
In his article 'NATO's Next Act: How to Handle Russia and Other Threats' published in Foreign Affairs magazine Breedlove called Russia "a recurring existential threat to the United States, its allies and international order."
