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NATO has been trying to establish partnership relations with the Russian Federation for almost 20 years. However, when in 2014 Russia occupied Crimea and invaded the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, all efforts were completely destroyed.
Such a statement was made by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, at a press conference following the results of an external meeting in Prague, answering a question about whether relations between the Alliance and Moscow had deteriorated over the past months.
"The relations between NATO and Russia have not changed since 2014. This was the moment when the Russian ambassador and military representative were denied access to the Alliance headquarters. This was the main change in the relationship. As an Alliance, we have tried to be partners with the Russian Federation for 20 years. The behavior of Russia itself, and not NATO - since 2008 in Georgia, since 2014, when Crimea was annexed and the attack on Luhansk and Donetsk regions was carried out - changed such relations. And even more later, after a full-scale invasion in 2022," Bauer said.
The admiral noted that since the beginning of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, more than 50 states, including NATO members, have supported Kyiv. They provide financial assistance and supply lethal and non-lethal military equipment.
In addition, at the NATO summit in Washington, it was decided to create a new Alliance command in Wiesbaden, which will take care of the coordination of training for the Ukrainian military, coordination of all the needs that Ukraine has for self-defense. Also, this structure will be responsible for coordinating logistics for the delivery of military aid from NATO countries and international partners.
"Allies are helping Ukraine to work on the creation of the future Armed Forces. This is the work that NATO intends to do. You can say that this will not help (improve - ed.) relations with Russia. But this does not change these relations as such. NATO is doing everything possible, which is allowed by international law, the UN Charter, and we will continue to do it," stated Rob Bauer.
Ukraine and NATO: You might have missed it
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the North Atlantic Alliance could have done more to prevent war in Ukraine. He noted that NATO member states did not want to provide weapons that Ukraine requested before the invasion of the Russian Federation, because they were afraid of escalation.
At the beginning of September, it was reported that two more NATO countries - Lithuania and Poland - are ready to jointly train the Ukrainian military. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that the base of the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade is ready for the training of Ukrainian defenders.
