OREANDA-NEWS. 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 told 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 did not respect "Russia's alleged right to establish its own 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, and also cannot try to establish its own sphere of interests," Stoltenberg concluded.