Peskov On Russia NATO Divorce: 'It Takes Two To Tango'

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's actions against Russia have inevitably made Moscow formalize the de facto situation in relations de jure, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"On the whole, as far as the situation is concerned, the de facto situation has been formalized de jure. This is how it can be described. There in fact were no relations and no dialogue, on the contrary, NATO declared its intention to contain Russia in every possible way, backing up its words with action. The expulsion of our diplomats who worked in Brussels was the last straw, all this made it necessary and inevitable to formalize the de facto situation de jure," the press secretary pointed out.

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized that the move would not harm Russia. "We won't be affected because we did not in fact have any dialogue with NATO. As our foreign minister explained, if the need arises, our ambassador to Brussels will be able to answer all the related questions. Actually, let's not forget that this is the way it used to be as our ambassador to Brussels used to do the job," Peskov noted. "We have repeatedly said that it's impossible to tango alone and we have no plans to do it," the presidential spokesman stressed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Monday that Moscow would suspend its permanent mission to NATO in early November following the alliance's decision to yank the credentials of eight members of the Russian permanent mission. Besides, the activities of NATO's military liaison mission and information bureau in Moscow will also be suspended.