Senator Tsekov: NATO Secretary General Stoltenbreg has taken on a hawkish role 
Sergei Tsekov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, negatively assessed the statement of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the unacceptability of the thesis that Russia has its own sphere of interests. The senator said that the head of the alliance took on the role of a hawk who, during the crisis of leaders in Europe, decided to aggravate relations with Moscow. He spoke about this in an interview with Lenta.ru.
Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg said that the thesis about the sphere of interests of Russia is unacceptable and causes caution, since all of the country's neighbors are sovereign states. According to the secretary general, the recognition of this fact is tantamount to the actual recognition of Moscow's right to control the actions of its neighbors. “And this is the world to which we do not want to return. A world in which large countries could impose restrictions on what sovereign independent nations could do, “the head of the alliance stressed.
Stoltenberg was glad that NATO allies do not respect” allegedly Russia's right to establish its sphere of influence. ” … He pointed out that this also applies to Ukraine.
The head of the alliance noted that only NATO will decide who to accept into its ranks and what assistance to provide to states wishing to join the organization. “Russia does not have the right to veto or vote on this issue, nor can it try to establish its own sphere of interests,” concluded Stoltenberg.
Hawk role
First of all, by the words about the absence of a sphere of influence of Russia, Stoltenberg denotes the influence of NATO on the eastern countries, Tsekov noted. “The Alliance has a sphere of interests, and in principle it is not only within the borders of NATO countries, but also goes far beyond their borders. They are active in Georgia, Ukraine and other regions. They are, say, correct, influential and authoritative that they may have a sphere of interest, while others do not, ”retorted the statement of the head of the alliance Tsekov.
The sphere of Russia's interests extends to its own territory – this fact remains indisputable, the senator emphasized. At the same time, Moscow is monitoring the situation in the bordering states, Tsekov said. “If we see that in neighboring territories hostile regimes are being formed that threaten us, naturally we will not agree with this,” the Russian politician noted.
The sphere of interests of any state can extend to the territory of the entire world community, Tsekov said. It does not necessarily imply a military component, the senator concluded. “These are economic, social and humanitarian interests,” he added.
“Stoltenberg acts like a hawk in Europe. He actually took on the role of a man who is constantly trying to exacerbate relations with Russia. He became the main character in Europe, because they are now in a crisis with the leaders in the European Union, so he took on this hawkish role. We must, of course, understand that international security is based not on what NATO wants and does, but on the actions of many states in the aggregate, and above all, if we are talking about Europe, on the actions of such states as Russia, ”Tsekov summed up .
On December 1, Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO would actively support Ukraine and Georgia to build up their military capabilities. According to him, such assistance will strengthen these countries and give them the opportunity in the future to independently defend themselves if necessary.