This is the reality we have to deal with: Peskov

NATO is flirting with military rhetoric, escalating the degree of tension and falling into a state of military ecstasy. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov in an interview with Izvestia. According to RIA Novosti, he said, “NATO is raising the level of escalation, NATO is flirting with military rhetoric, falling into such military ecstasy. This is the reality we have to deal with in the future.”

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had declared that “Ukraine has the right,” including to strike military targets “on Russian territory,” and added that “some allies” have lifted restrictions on such strikes: “I think it is time to lift other restrictions as well,” Stoltenberg stated.

Peskov noted that NATO is in direct confrontation with Russia: “They are not close; they are there,” he responded when asked whether NATO is approaching direct confrontation with the Russian Federation.