US announces major review of NATO-Russia relations

Defense ministers from NATO member states will begin discussions on reviewing NATO’s relations with Russia during a meeting in Brussels on 17 and 18 October.

Source: Politico, Brussels-based political and political news organization, with reference to an unnamed senior US official, as reported by Europe’s Pravda

Details: The US official said that NATO has been holding private discussions for several months about formally defining relations with Moscow, and the upcoming meeting of defense ministers in Brussels next week will be the first official opportunity to continue these talks.

NATO members will discuss the future of the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act. While this document technically remains in force, some countries have declared that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has effectively rendered it invalid.

Quote: “Right now we have to have an alliance-wide understanding… that the (Founding Act) and the NATO-Russia Council were built for a different era, and I think the allies are prepared to say that it was a different era in our relationship with Russia and therefore something new is deserved.”

More details: The US official clarified that there is still no draft of a new strategy in relation to Russia, as the main focus is currently on collecting opinions from the 32 member countries of NATO. At the same time, he noted that no significant military decisions were expected to be taken as part of this strategy.

For reference: The NATO-Russia Council, an organization created after the Cold War to promote bilateral security partnerships, has not met since 2022.

Bottom:

The review of NATO’s relations with Moscow was approved by NATO leaders at the Washington Summit in July 2024. The new strategy towards Russia is expected to be finalized at the Hague Summit in June 2025.
Recently, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged NATO member states not to fear nuclear threats made by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, which aim to weaken Western military support for Ukraine.

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