NATO's Steadfast Defender exercises mark return to Cold War schemes, Russia says

FILE PHOTO: Army soldier figurines are displayed in front of the NATO logo and Russian flag colours background in this illustration taken, February 13, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) - The scale of NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises mark an "irrevocable return" of the alliance to Cold War schemes, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the state RIA news agency in remarks published on Sunday.

NATO said on Thursday it was launching its largest exercise since the Cold War involving some 90,000 troops, rehearsing how U.S. troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up with a "near-peer" adversary.