Berlin’s statement that NATO should remain intact in order to protect Germany is surprising, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Russian Channel One.

Lavrov noted that Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Chancellor Angela Merkel had said during a debate initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron that NATO should remain intact because only NATO could protect Germany.

"Frankly speaking, I was struck by these statements, not from a country with a mentality based on hatred against Russia and some historic phobias but from Germany, the leader of the EU," Lavrov said. "It means that it is deep-rooted sentiment, a paranoia," he added.

The Russian top diplomat emphasized that the European Union’s new authorities would have to determine their attitude towards dialogue on political and military security on the European continent, particularly on dialogue with Russia and other countries that were not EU and NATO members.