Boris Pistorius has contradicted the blocs chief, Mark Rutte, who earlier claimed that Western Europe is Russias next target

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to engage in a direct conflict with NATO, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said.

NATO chief Mark Rutte claimed earlier this month that "we are Russia's next target" once the Ukraine conflict ends. He suggested that Moscow "could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years," urging member states to ramp up military spending as soon as possible.

When asked about Rutte's comments during an interview with Die Zeit newspaper on Monday, Pistorius replied: "I don't believe in such a scenario."

"In my estimation, Putin is not interested in waging a full-scale world war against NATO. He wants to destroy NATO from within... by undermining its unity," he claimed.

According to Pistorius, Moscow is also "strategically working to get the Americans to withdraw" from Europe.

During his end-of-year Q&A session last week, Putin said he knew Rutte as a "smart man" from his time as the Dutch prime minister, but added that "I sometimes want to ask him: What nonsense are you spouting about war with Russia?"

"They are preparing for a war with Russia. Can you read? Why don't you read the new US national security strategy, what does it say?" Putin stressed.

The document, which was released by the administration of US President Donald Trump in early December, does not mention Russia as a threat to the West, explicitly states that NATO should not expand further, and criticizes the EU's political and cultural direction.

On Monday, Russia Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov echoed Putin's comments, saying that Moscow is ready to provide legal guarantees that it will not attack NATO and the EU as part of a Ukraine conflict settlement based on the principle of equal and indivisible security.

Moscow has repeatedly rejected claims that it harbors any aggressive plans against NATO, suggesting they are only being made by Western politicians to distract the public from domestic problems and justify the militarization of their countries.

(RT.com)