On October 17-18, the defense ministers of NATO member countries will hold a meeting in Brussels, during which a review of the Alliance's relations with the aggressor country Russia will begin.
Points of attention
- It is planned to define a new strategy for relations with Moscow, which will be an important step for the Alliance.
- The founding act of NATO-Russia, concluded in 1997, remains relevant, but needs updating.
- The NATO-Russia Council, created for partnership in security issues, may undergo significant changes in connection with the events of recent years.
What is known about NATO's position on this issue
As one of the journalists' insiders reported, secret discussions regarding the official definition of relations with Moscow have been going on in the Alliance for several months.
What is important to understand is that the meeting of the heads of the Ministry of Defense in Brussels next week will be the first official opportunity to choose a specific path for the bloc.
The focus this time will be on the future of the NATO-Russia Founding Act signed in 1997. This document is effectively still in effect, although some countries have claimed that the full-scale invasion of 2022 has rendered it invalid.
Now we must have an understanding in the Alliance... that (the Founding Act. — ed.) and the NATO-Russia Council were created for another era. I think that the allies are ready to say that this was a different era in our relations with Russia, and therefore we deserve something new, — said an anonymous source.
There is no specific decision regarding the Russian Federation yet
The insider also told the journalists that the project of the new strategy regarding Russia has not yet been created.
This is primarily due to the fact that the collection and analysis of the opinions of 32 NATO countries is currently underway.
At the same time, according to the journalists' interlocutor, it is not expected that the strategy will make significant military decisions.
What is important to understand is that the NATO-Russia Council is a body that was formed after the end of the Cold War for bilateral security partnership.
It has not convened once since the Russian Federation began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, it is emphasized that the review of the Alliance's relations with Moscow was approved by the leaders of the NATO states at the summit in Washington in July 2024. It is expected that a new strategy for Russia will be approved at the summit in The Hague in June 2025.
