NATO's four-month long military exercises near Russia's borders, known as Steadfast Defender, are proof the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, dismissed accusations by NATO this week that Russia is engaged in hybrid attacks on its member states, saying this was misleading "misinformation" aimed at distracting people from the alliance's activities. It was NATO that had waged a hybrid war with Russia by supporting Ukraine with arms, intelligence and finances, she said in a statement.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called for the arrest and extradition of the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), citing the March 22 terrorist attack that has been claimed by an Afghanistan-based ISIS group, as well as other attacks.
"In the case of the practical implementation of such plans by Bern, retaliatory measures by the Russian side will be inevitable," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its official Telegram channel.
Russia's foreign ministry condemned the decision of Ecuador to hand over old Russian-made military hardware from its stocks to the U.S. for use in Ukraine, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported on Feb. 2.
Armenia formally joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Jan. 31, months after ratifying the Court's Rome Statute, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Jan. 31.