NATO/IMS: Statement in response to the “Comment by the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation” on Alleged Statements made by the Chairman of the Military Committee, Gen. Petr Pavel – 17 May 2016

In their comment on the alleged statements by General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (CMC), the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation used partial quotes and twisted the facts of what CMC actually stated in his speech to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces of the Senate of the Republic of France on 3 May 2016.

In his remarks, which can be viewed in full under the following link,http://videos.senat.fr/video/videos/2016/video32690.html, Gen. Pavel highlighted both of the security challenges NATO is currently facing, i.e. the East and the South.

In his description of the Eastern security challenge, the Chairman discussed not only Russia’s recent actions that have triggered NATO’s response in the framework of deterrence and defence, but also the need for a pragmatic approach towards Russia, highlighting the existence of “a number of common interests [that] exist between the Alliance, the EU, and bilaterally between our countries and Russia,” such as Syria and counter-terrorism. The Chairman also underlined the need to continue to have a“constructive dialogue” with Russia in order to “avoid miscalculation.”

The comment by the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation thus serves as yet another example of Russia’s disinformation vis-à-vis NATO.

Source:NATO