NATO maneuvers in Poland on March 4 (Reuters)

Moscow -

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have passed through various stages, ranging from rapprochement to the degree of strategic cooperation, to divergence to the degree of rivalry and taking mutual escalatory steps.

The file of NATO's expansion to the east constituted the first major collapse in relations between the two parties, as Moscow considers that accepting new members into the alliance requires reducing the period of strategic deployment of its forces, which leaves Russia less time to raise its forces to combat readiness.

Relations entered into an additional and qualitative crisis with the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war and Brussels’ announcement of its full support for Kiev and the provision of military, economic and political aid to it in the war with Moscow.

The following are the most prominent milestones in the relationship between Russia and NATO from the early 1990s until now:

NATO's expansion file to the east constituted the first major collapse in relations between Russia and the alliance (Anatolia)

Collaboration stage

In December 1991, Russia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, a program aimed at improving the alliance's relations with countries outside the bloc. In 1997, this formula was replaced by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which included all NATO member states and partner states in the Euro-Atlantic area.

In June 1994, Russia joined the Partnership for Peace programme, sending a NATO-sponsored peacekeeping force to the Western Balkans.

May 1997 witnessed the signing of the Constitutive Act between Russia and NATO in Paris, becoming the official basis for bilateral relations.

The document stipulated holding meetings and establishing a permanent Russian mission to the alliance in Brussels, in addition to a media office and a NATO military liaison mission in Moscow. The document included a pledge by the alliance not to deploy forces near Russia's borders on a permanent basis.

In March 1998, a Russian diplomatic mission to NATO was established to promote bilateral dialogue. In March 2000, Acting President Vladimir Putin stated that he did not rule out the possibility of Russia joining NATO, but with many reservations.

In September 2000, a NATO information office was opened in Moscow attached to the Belgian embassy. In 2001, the rapprochement between Russia and the Alliance continued after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism developed.

The year 2002 witnessed the peak of rapprochement and cooperation between the two parties, through the signing of the Rome Declaration “Relations between Russia and NATO: A New Quality,” according to which the Russia-NATO Council was established in May of that year. The Council's tasks are to coordinate and develop common positions on key issues and, in the future, to move relations between Russia and the Alliance to a higher level with the possibility of full membership.

In 2003, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov proposed that NATO conduct air transit of military units through Russian territory, and NATO accepted this proposal.

Cold stage

On February 10, 2007, relations between the two sides cooled after Putin’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, in which he said that Russia and the Alliance were united only in the fight against drug trafficking.

Tension between the two sides began in 2008 due to discussions within NATO about the possibility of Ukraine and Georgia joining. While Washington insisted on their membership, and the alliance said that they could become members of the alliance when they meet the organization’s requirements, Moscow confirmed the existence of an intention to expand the alliance eastward, and considered this a threat to it.

In April 2008, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Yuri Baluyevsky, stated that if Ukraine and Georgia joined NATO, Moscow would use "military and other measures" to defend its interests on the border.

In August 2008, the dispute between Russia and NATO deepened over the five-day war in Georgia, amid accusations that Moscow used disproportionate military force. Until the spring of 2009, the meetings of the Council of Russia and NATO were suspended and the implementation of a number of joint programs was frozen.

Relations deteriorated completely in March 2014, as almost all forms of cooperation were suspended after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, with the alliance accusing Moscow of interfering in the conflict and carrying out aggressive actions.

On April 8, 2014, the Alliance banned the entry of all employees of the Russian mission to its headquarters except for the permanent representative, his deputy, and his assistant, and ordered the number of permanent delegates to be reduced from 70 to 50 people.

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Russia was not invited to attend the NATO summit held in the United Kingdom in September 2014, which discussed the situation in Ukraine and Russian “threats,” and at which it was decided to form a task force with a high degree of readiness in the event of a Russian attack on Any of the NATO countries.

Russia possesses enormous military capabilities and rejects the presence of NATO near its (European) borders.

Mutual threat stage

In December 2014, Russia adopted a new military doctrine that views the strengthening of NATO's military capabilities and the alliance's proximity to its borders as one of the main threats.

While the NATO summit in July 2016 considered Russia the main threat to members of the alliance, it adopted a program to increase defensive capabilities in the cyber environment to protect against possible actions by Moscow.

In 2018, NATO spoke of “Russian provocative activities” on its western borders, as well as in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and condemned the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury (Britain) and attributed it to Russia.

The year 2019 witnessed the effective end of the dialogue in the Russia-NATO format, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stated that NATO considers the “Ukrainian issue” a priority, while Moscow does not intend to discuss this issue in this format.

In March 2021, participants in a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of NATO countries accused Russia of destabilizing the situation in neighboring countries and stressed that relations with it would not improve in the near future.

In October 2021, the alliance expelled 8 employees of the Russian Permanent Mission, abolished the positions of two others, and reduced the mission’s staff from 20 to 10 individuals. Moscow responded by suspending the work of its mission and halting military communications and the activities of the alliance’s information office in Moscow.

In May 2022, Sweden and Finland submitted applications to join the alliance, and on July 5 of the same year, protocols for their accession to the alliance were signed. The ratification process was delayed due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

As recently as April 1, the head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna negotiations on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov, described the current relations between Russia and the alliance as worse than the Cold War.

Source: Al Jazeera