CNBC: Russia is ‘a power in decline’ but still poses a military threat, NATO chief says
* Ukrainian and Western officials fear a Russian land invasion of its western neighbor, whose Crimean peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.
* Moscow has rejected the notion, pointing the finger instead at what it says is aggression from Ukraine.
Russia may be in economic decline, but it still poses a formidable military threat — particularly in the realm of advanced weaponry and cyberwarfare, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.
“Russia is a power in decline, meaning the economic importance of Russia, the GDP is not keeping track with many other countries in the world. But even an economy in decline and a power in economic decline can be a threat and a challenge,” the NATO chief told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.
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WNU editor: I have been hearing the line that "Russia is a power in decline" since the break-up of the Soviet Union 30 years ago.