NATO’s decision to open command-and-control centres in six of its eastern European members will “fuel the artificially created climate of confrontation” in relations with Russia, according to Moscow’s ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko.

“The opening of these centers … will confirm that the alliance’s military machinery has been retooled to the task of warding off a mythical threat from the East," Grushko said in Brussels on Friday, according to TASS.

Forces inside NATO who want to make irrversible the process of containing Russia, are gaining the upper hand, he added, accusing NATO of fomenting tensions by opening new outposts in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

“This is a dead end. It leads to higher tensions strictly in accordance with Cold War era templates," Grushko opined.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Bulgaria's NATO membership is not an obstacle to the country's relations with Russia and does not pose a threat to Moscow.

There is no contradiction between strong defence, collective defence and political dialogue, Stoltenberg said in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) channel on Friday.

Stoltenberg attended the inauguration of a NATO Force Integration Unit, as the outposts are formally known, in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Thursday, calling the opening “a big step forward towards greater solidarity, greater strength, and greater readiness.” 

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