Top Russian official says US dictates NATO spending

FILE PHOTO: A NATO flag flutters next to the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

(Reuters) - A top official in Russia's Security Council said the United States was imposing economic obligations on its NATO partners and setting conditions for buying specific weapons and equipment.

Nikolai Patrushev told the Argumenty I Fakty news outlet the Kremlin's aims in more than two years of conflict in Ukraine remained the same as NATO continued to press close to Russia's borders.