‘Ongoing accusations against Russia show US plunging back to its policies of 90s'

Current US policy is a reminder of the 90s - not to negotiate with Russia, but to expand its territory towards the East and promote NATO, Willy Wimmer, the former State Secretary of the German Ministry of Defense, told RT.

On July 28 The New York Times reported that the United States accused Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing cruise missile tests that date to 2008. US President Barack Obama sent his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a letter about the matter.

RT: The US says it's suspected that Russia's been developing these missiles since 2008. So why only bring this up now?

Willy Wimmer: Because they try to blame Russia every morning, every evening, every night. It is a salvo of accusations and they try to get the public in the West accustomed to blaming Russia. When it comes to these allegations concerning the INF treaty [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, 1987], I think it should be mentioned that in 2009 there was a test firing of the [ballistic] missile but the US agreed upon this, and therefore, we have to raise a question to the President why he is blaming Russia now, when these things [are] going back to 2009.

RT: The claims of an illegal missile test are just the latest in a string of allegations aimed at Moscow recently. How significant is the timing here, in your opinion?

WW: There is ongoing flack of accusations against Russia. And this shows to all Europeans that the international relations are really poisoned these days, and this goes back to the US policy which started in the 90s, not to negotiate, not to sit at a diplomatic table together with the Russian Federation, but to expand its own territory towards the East and promote NATO and doing what it can to repel the Russian Federation.

RT: Earlier this week, a court in The Hague ordered Russia to pay 50 Billion dollars to the former shareholders of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s oil giant Yukos, which went bust almost a decade ago. Critics say the ruling was politicized. Would you agree?

WW: The all thing is politicized. I was by coincidence in Moscow when the Khodorkovsky case happened and at this time I met with German officials at the German Embassy in Moscow and it was interesting that they told me that Khodorkovsky and his friends tried to sell Russian gas and oil resources to Wall Street. I think we all have a special understanding of that. If you do under today's circumstances, why should Russia have its resources being distributed by Wall Street? Therefore, I think this is the beginning of one of the most dramatic issues we are seeing these days. In my opinion, what is going on now in Ukraine is the same effort of the special circles in London and in New York to get in control of Russian resources. Madeleine Albright made it absolutely open when she talked about Russian resources, not only when it comes to oil and gas, she wants to have it under the control of other countries also besides the Russian Federation, and therefore, it is politicized from the very beginning. It was an attack on Russia.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.