The NATO-Russia Council, an organization established after the Cold War to collaborate on security issues and joint projects, has not met since 2022. Relations have steadily deteriorated over the years, with Russia attacking Georgia in 2008 and illegally annexing Crimea in 2014. and fomenting war in eastern Ukraine.
NATO countries are currently in the process of “planning various elements of the (Russia) strategy and advancing discussions within the alliance that will lead to topics such as the future of the NATO-Russia founding law,” a senior US administration official said. Ta. he told reporters on Friday.
“The time has come to formulate a new strategy based on (the allies’) concrete positions," the official said.
Official lower-level talks have been going on for months, but next week’s NATO defense ministers meeting will be the first of several ministerial-level talks on the topic. During the NATO summit in Washington in July, the allies agreed to develop a new NATO-Russia strategy at the next alliance summit scheduled for June 2025 in The Hague.
The US official added: “Now we need to get an understanding across the alliance…The (Founding Act) and the NATO-Russia Council were created for a different era; “I think I’m ready to say that,” he added. Times have changed in relations with Russia, so something new is worth it. ”
The official said there was no draft of the new strategy yet as the focus was on gathering input from all 32 NATO members. They also said the military implications of this political exercise are expected to be limited.
When it comes to Russia, there is disagreement over how far NATO should go to create new rules. A NATO diplomat said there were concerns among some member states that a new, highly aggressive strategy could send a destabilizing “signal” to Russia.
Then there is the issue of Hungary and Slovakia. The two NATO countries continue to maintain contact with the Kremlin and see strategic value in engaging with Russia, seeking to break ranks with the rest of the alliance.
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