NATO officials bemoaned Russia’s suspension of its diplomatic mission as further damaging ties and increasing the chances of a military escalation, but a senior Russian diplomat retorted that relations were already ‘spoiled’
There was shock across Europe this week when Russia announced it was closing its mission at NATO headquarters in Brussels and ordering NATO staff to leave Moscow. After all, such direct contacts between the Kremlin and the Western military alliance had been established at the end of the Cold War to prevent misunderstandings from escalating into conflict.
Moscow and the West also have very different narratives about who is to blame for the collapse. Moscow says the original sin was the United States and its allies bringing former Warsaw Pact states into NATO in the 1990s and early 2000s without inviting Russia to join the group. Western governments point to a series of more recent Russian transgressions, including the annexation of Crimea and a string of assassinations and attempts targeting foes of Vladimir Putin’s regime in Europe.
Speaking after a Thursday meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the ministers had endorsed “a new overarching plan to defend our alliance in crisis and conflict” that aimed “to have the right forces at the right place at the right time.” However, he said, NATO would not “not mirror Russia’s destabilizing behaviour” and deploy new land-based nuclear weapons in Europe.
In response, Poland has closed its border and declared a state of emergency in the region, deploying thousands of additional Polish troops to the area. On Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the growing NATO presence in Poland and the Baltic states had compelled Russia and Belarus to further develop an integrated defence strategy.
Earlier this year, Russia massed an estimated 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, a situation that was only defused when U.S. President Joe Biden offered Mr. Putin a face-to-face summit meeting.
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