The Federation Council reacted to reports about NATO's preparations for a conflict with the Russian Federation

Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, said that NATO needs the crisis in Ukraine to confront Russia.

"I fully agree with [Russian Ambassador to Belgium] Denis Vladimirovich Gonchar. They are not just preparing, but they have been preparing for a confrontation for quite a long period and have used the crisis in Ukraine for this very purpose," the senator said in an interview with Lenta.Ru on Friday, November 28th.

He stressed that this is why NATO is extremely reluctant to reach an agreement on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. According to Karasin, it is beneficial for the alliance to maintain tension, and this primarily concerns individual structures and politicians within the European Union (EU).

On the "Cold winds": NATO increases the number of exercises near the borders with Russia

Large-scale naval maneuvers in Finland began immediately after the completion of artillery firing there.

On November 27, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar said that NATO was actually preparing its population for a conflict with Russia, even if it sounded absurd. According to him, the alliance is intimidating people with the Kremlin's alleged plans to attack allied countries and is already preparing for a possible major conflict.

At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a press conference following a state visit to Kyrgyzstan that the Russian Federation was ready to register the absence of state intentions to attack Europe. He clarified that the European representatives promoting such speculations are "crooks" or "a little crazy."

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.