Moscow. October 8th. INTERFAX - Russia will formulate and implement retaliatory measures to NATO's actions based on its interests, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"While there is no need to talk about cooperation, there is actually no cooperation. Our NATO counterparts are narrowing the opportunities for dialogue. Of course, some retaliatory measures in the form in which they will best meet our interests will be formulated and implemented," Peskov told reporters on Friday.
According to him, NATO is not an instrument of cooperation and interaction.
"This is a block that generally has an anti-Russian orientation. That's how we perceive it. And this perception of ours is clearly confirmed by the actions of this block," Peskov said.
Last Wednesday it became known that NATO decided to reduce the number of the Russian mission in the alliance by half and revoke the accreditation of eight of its diplomats in response to the alleged hostile activities of Russia.
On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the decision to reduce the size of the Russian mission is not related to any specific cases.
"We have revoked the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission to NATO, who were undercover intelligence officers. This decision is not related to any specific events," he said at a press conference.
According to him, NATO has recently recorded an increase in "malicious activity on the part of Russia," and therefore the alliance "needs to be vigilant."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday that the reduction in the number of the Russian permanent mission to NATO surprised Moscow, but did not come as a surprise, while no official reasons for the expulsion of diplomats were given.
According to her, "I was surprised (by this step) with my brusqueness, because no official explanations of the reasons were given."
