Kathrine Frich
NATO’s unity has been under pressure since Donald Trump raised the possibility of pulling the US out of the alliance.
Now, those tensions are being seized upon by critics eager to highlight cracks within the Western bloc.
Kremlin criticism
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has openly criticized NATO, portraying the alliance as dominated by the United States.
According to TASS cited by Ziare, she argued that member states are treated as subordinates rather than equals.
“All these NATO member countries regularly pay tribute to the United States within the North Atlantic Alliance, because the United States, as Washington has stated, is responsible for them and is ready to ensure their security,” she said on Radio Sputnik.
‘Vassals’ not equals
Zakharova claimed that the alliance’s founding principle of equality no longer reflects reality.
“Now it all boils down to the fact that they are supposed to be equal, but at the same time they demand tribute from those equals, as if they were not equals, but vassals,” she added.
Her comments form part of a broader narrative from Russian officials challenging the role of the US in European security.
Greenland remark
She also pointed to tensions involving the United States itself.
“What’s so phenomenal? All NATO members pay the US to protect them, they don’t say from whom, but they seem to suggest that they have an eastern neighbor, Russia, but at the same time, the US itself is threatening to take Greenland away from them. So, excuse me, who are they protecting them from, if they themselves do such things?” Zakharova said.
Sources: TASS, Ziare.
