The unprecedented US defense budget signed by Donald Trump designated external adversaries of Washington including Russia, Iran, China and the DPRK. This opinion was expressed by a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Sergey Zheleznyak.
“Judging by the fact that America intends to spend much fewer to fight against terrorism in Syria (in particular, on Iraq’s armament) than to restrain Russia in Europe, the trend towards NATO expansion to the East will continue in the near future,” he said.
According to Zheleznyak, the US military budget in its formulations and expenditure items demonstrates the intention to spur the arms race.
“The document again statesunlawful demands on Russia, unfounded accusations of non-compliance with international obligations, fictional interference in the internal affairs of the United States, pseudo-aggression, by which US soldiers are trying to justify annual increase in military spending. All this takes place against the background that Washington itself unilaterally withdraws from bilateral and international treaties, freezes interaction with Russia under the Open Skies Treaty, constantly violates the sovereignty of other countries and tries to put itself above the law”, he said.
According to the parliamentarian, the special attention to Ukraine and Georgia indicated in the adopted budget is aimed at attracting attention from Russia, which the US is trying to pressure to include our neighbors in NATO membership.
“Undoubtedly, we are categorically against new NATO military bases at our borders in the territories of countries that have territorial conflicts and have applied destructive actions against our country, but we perfectly understand that in the near future neither Georgia, nor especially Ukraine, will not be able to become NATO members. Any decisions and steps of the Alliance directed against Russia will demand our adequate and timely response, including at the international diplomatic level and in matters of ensuring national defense and security”, concluded Zheleznyak.