The scale of his high schools NATO Steadfast Defender 2024 is a sign of the alliance’s “irreversible return” to Cold War plans, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told state news agency RIA in statements released today.

NATO said on Thursday it will hold its largest exercises since the Cold War era involving some 90,000 troops where US troops will discuss how they can bolster European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the eastern flank. of the alliance should a conflict break out with an “almost equal” opponent.

“These high schools are another element of the hybrid war launched by the West against Russia,” Grusko told RIA.

“Gymnasiums of this scale signal NATO’s final and irreversible return to Cold War designs, when military planning process, resources and infrastructure are primed for confrontation with Russia.”

NATO did not name Russia in its statement. But his top strategic document identifies Russia as the most important and immediate threat to the security of NATO members.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in what Kiev and its Western allies have said is an unprovoked imperialist land grab.

Moscow and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have since often accused the “collective West” of waging a “hybrid war” against Russia by supporting Ukraine with economic and military aid.