The warning from the NATO state’s defense chief is an example of “military psychosis,” a senior Foreign Ministry diplomat has said FILE PHOTO: A full Moon rises over the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow. © Getty Images / Anadolu Agency / Sefa Karacan Russia has accused Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken of irresponsible rhetoric after he suggested that NATO could “wipe Moscow off the map.” In an interview with De Morgen newspaper published on Monday, Francken brushed off concerns that the currently shelved delivery of US-made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could trigger an all-out war between Russia and NATO. He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not use nuclear weapons because the US-led bloc “will wipe Moscow off the map,” and that a conventional attack on Brussels would also result in Moscow getting “flattened.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko told RBK on Wednesday that Francken’s words were in line with “the atmosphere of military psychosis” prevalent in Western Europe. The Russian Embassy in Belgium similarly condemned Francken’s “provocative and irresponsible” statements as “sheer absurdity and total disconnect from reality.” “Francken’s escapades are the most glaring manifestation of the militarist frenzy that is increasingly consuming the European war party,” the embassy said. It added that EU officials like Francken are “posing a threat to the continent’s future and [are] capable of plunging it into a new war.” Russia has repeatedly stated that the flooding of Ukraine with Western weapons will not stop its troops but will only cause further escalation.
