NATO summit confirms desire to prolong conflict, says Russia

MOSCOW, March 25: The extraordinary summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held Thursday has confirmed the alliance's desire to contain Russia and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The decision announced at the summit to continue providing political and practical support to the Kiev regime confirms the alliance's interest in continuing hostilities," the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement. NATO members have demonstrated their loyalty to Washington by vowing to follow its orders aimed at ultimately containing Russia, she said, adding Washington once again "disciplined" its allies by pressuring sovereign countries and further erasing Europe's strategic autonomy. "They silently watched the United States destroy the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, stood aside when Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, allowed the Americans to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies," Zakharova said, stressing that NATO members have been slowly destroying the European security system. NATO is using its "anti-Russian course" as a pretext to increase the purchase of weapons, which are being supplied by the U.S. military industrial complex, she noted. To cover up Washington's "dirty practices" regarding secret research on biological and chemical weapons, NATO has launched a groundless disinformation campaign accusing Russia of possible provocations, the spokesperson added.