OREANDA-NEWS. The Kremlin drew attention to the fact that NATO granted Ukraine the status of a partner with advanced capabilities on June 12, the Day of Russia, but they will not discuss the symbolism of such coincidences. This was stated by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov on June 16.

 “Of course, we paid attention to this. […] Let the representatives of the alliance themselves discuss the symbolism of these or that events. We pay attention to the essence of the process,” the politician answered the question of journalist about this matter.

The Kremlin representative recalled that Moscow’s position on NATO’s actions is consistent and well known: Russia is very attentive to bringing the military infrastructure of the alliance closer to its borders and will be forced to retaliate. NATO’s “absorption” of more and more countries, regardless of format, does not contribute to strengthening security in Europe, Peskov said.

Commenting on the granting of a new status to Kiev, NATO representatives stated that the organization recognizes the significant contribution of Ukraine to the mission of the alliance.