NATO–Russia relations
Encyclopedia
NATO-Russian relations are relations between the NATO military alliance and Russia
.
Cooperation between Russia and NATO started in 1991. In 1994 Russia joined the Partnership for Peace
programme. During the 1990s, sides have signed several important agreements on cooperation.
The Russia–NATO council was created in 2002, for handling security issues and joint projects.
Cooperation between Russia and NATO now develops in several main sectors: fighting terrorism, military cooperation, cooperation on Afghanistan
(including transportation by Russia of non-military ISAF
freight, and fighting the local drug production
), industrial cooperation, non-proliferation, and others.
Dmitry Rogozin
holds the office of the Russian envoy to NATO.
(later re-named Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
) and are further deepened as Russia joined the Partnership for Peace programme on June 22, 1994
On 27 May 1997, at 1997 Paris NATO summit
, sides signed a Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, a road map for future NATO-Russia cooperation. Both sides state they do not see each other as adversaries, and have political commitment to cooperate at creating "lasting and inclusive" peace in Euro-Atlantic area.
. The council has been an official diplomatic tool for handling security issues and joint projects between NATO and Russia, involving "consensus-building, consultations, joint decisions and joint actions."
"Joint decisions and actions", taken under NATO-Russia Council agreements, include fighting terrorism
, military cooperation (joint military exercises and personnel training), cooperation on Afghanistan (Russia providing training courses for anti-narcotics officers from Afghanistan and Central Asia
countries in cooperation with the UN), transportation by Russia of non-military freight in support of NATO's ISAF in Afghanistan, industrial cooperation, cooperation on defence interoperability, non-proliferation, and other areas.
Because NATO and Russia have similar ambitions and mutual challenges, the NATO-Russia Council is seen by both sides as effective at building diplomatic agreements between all parties involved since 2002. The heads of state for NATO Allies and Russia gave a positive assessment of NATO-Russia Council achievements in a Bucharest
summit meeting in April 2008, though both sides have expressed mild discontent with the lack of actual content resulting from the council. In January 2009, the Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said the NATO-Russia council was "a body where scholastic discussions were held." A US official shared this view, stating: "We want now to structure cooperation more practically, in areas where you can achieve results, instead of insisting on things that won't happen."
. Later the North Atlantic Council condemned Russia for recognizing the South Ossetia and Abkhazia
regions of Georgia as independent states. The Secretary General of NATO claimed that Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia violated numerous UN Security Council resolutions, including resolutions endorsed by Russia. Russia, in turn, insisted the recognition was taken basing on the situation on the ground, and was in line with the UN Charter, the CSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975
and other fundamental international law
.
Relations were further strained in May 2009 when NATO expelled two Russia diplomats over accusations of spying. It has also added to the tension already created by proposed NATO military exercises in Georgia, as the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said,
In front of the Russian Parliamentary elections in 2011, President Dimitri Medvedev was also quoted as saying that had Russia not invaded Georgia in 2008, NATO would have expanded further eastward.
NATO to Ukraine and Georgia may negatively affect European security. Russia, Ukraine and Georgia have long and deep historical, cultural and economical ties, and the incumbent President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev
stated in 2008 that "no country would be happy about a military bloc to which it did not belong approaching its borders".
missile defence system in Poland
and in the Czech Republic
could threaten its own defences. The Russian Space Forces commander, Colonel General
Vladimir Popovkin
stated in 2007 that "[the] trajectories of Iranian
or Korean
missiles would hardly pass anywhere near the territory of the Czech republic, but every possible launch of Russian ICBM from the territory of the European Russia
, or made by Russian Northern Fleet would be controlled by the [radar] station".
stated, that NATO and Russia are going to cooperate on such issues as the fight against terrorism and non-proliferation of WMDs. With that, NATO is going to stay and to continue its "open doors" policy :
, requesting permission for the alliance to fly cargoes (including possibly military ones) over Russian territory to Afghanistan, and to provide more helicopters for the Afghan armed forces
. Russia has so far denied these requests, although it has continued to allow transit of non-military supplies through its territory.
In April 2009, the Polish
Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, suggested including Russia
in NATO. In March 2010 this suggestion was repeated in an open letter co-written by German
defense experts General
Klaus Naumann
, Frank Elbe, Ulrich Weisser, and former German Defense Minister Volker Rühe
. In the letter it was suggested that Russia was needed in the wake of an emerging multi-polar world in order for NATO to counterbalance emerging Asia
n powers.
However Russian leadership has made it clear that Russia does not plan to join the alliance, preferring to keep cooperation on a lower level. The Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, is quoted as saying "Great powers don't join coalitions, they create coalitions. Russia considers itself a great power," although he said that Russia did not rule out membership at some point in the future. In March 2000 president Vladimir Putin, in interview to British television said Russia could once join NATO.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Cooperation between Russia and NATO started in 1991. In 1994 Russia joined the Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...
programme. During the 1990s, sides have signed several important agreements on cooperation.
The Russia–NATO council was created in 2002, for handling security issues and joint projects.
Cooperation between Russia and NATO now develops in several main sectors: fighting terrorism, military cooperation, cooperation on Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
(including transportation by Russia of non-military ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
freight, and fighting the local drug production
Opium production in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma and the "Golden Triangle" since 1992, excluding the year 2001. Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent". Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S....
), industrial cooperation, non-proliferation, and others.
Dmitry Rogozin
Dmitry Rogozin
Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin is a well-known Russian diplomat and popular politician, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia. In January, 2008, he became Russia's ambassador to NATO. He was a leader of the Rodina party until it merged with other similar Russian parties to form the...
holds the office of the Russian envoy to NATO.
Early cooperation (1991-2002)
Formal contacts and cooperation between Russia and NATO start in 1991, within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation CouncilNorth Atlantic Cooperation Council
The North Atlantic Cooperation Council was a NATO organisation founded in December 1991 and was the precursor to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. It initially brought together NATO and nine central and eastern European nations in a consultative forum...
(later re-named Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council , a NATO institution, is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and those parts of Asia on the European periphery. The member states meet to cooperate and consult on a range of political and security issues...
) and are further deepened as Russia joined the Partnership for Peace programme on June 22, 1994
On 27 May 1997, at 1997 Paris NATO summit
NATO summit
A NATO summit is a summit meeting that is regarded as a periodic opportunity for Heads of State and Heads of Government of NATO member countries to evaluate and provide strategic direction for Alliance activities....
, sides signed a Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, a road map for future NATO-Russia cooperation. Both sides state they do not see each other as adversaries, and have political commitment to cooperate at creating "lasting and inclusive" peace in Euro-Atlantic area.
NATO–Russia Council
The NATO-Russia Council was created on 28 May 2002 during the 2002 NATO Summit in Rome2002 Rome summit
The 2002 Rome summit was an exceptional NATO summit of NATO and Russia at the level of Heads of State and Government. NATO Allies and the Russian Federation created the NATO-Russia Council, which replaced the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council....
. The council has been an official diplomatic tool for handling security issues and joint projects between NATO and Russia, involving "consensus-building, consultations, joint decisions and joint actions."
"Joint decisions and actions", taken under NATO-Russia Council agreements, include fighting terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, military cooperation (joint military exercises and personnel training), cooperation on Afghanistan (Russia providing training courses for anti-narcotics officers from Afghanistan and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
countries in cooperation with the UN), transportation by Russia of non-military freight in support of NATO's ISAF in Afghanistan, industrial cooperation, cooperation on defence interoperability, non-proliferation, and other areas.
Because NATO and Russia have similar ambitions and mutual challenges, the NATO-Russia Council is seen by both sides as effective at building diplomatic agreements between all parties involved since 2002. The heads of state for NATO Allies and Russia gave a positive assessment of NATO-Russia Council achievements in a Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
summit meeting in April 2008, though both sides have expressed mild discontent with the lack of actual content resulting from the council. In January 2009, the Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said the NATO-Russia council was "a body where scholastic discussions were held." A US official shared this view, stating: "We want now to structure cooperation more practically, in areas where you can achieve results, instead of insisting on things that won't happen."
Georgia war and recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
Relations between Russia and NATO became strained in summer 2008 due to Georgia's action in South Ossetia2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
. Later the North Atlantic Council condemned Russia for recognizing the South Ossetia and Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
regions of Georgia as independent states. The Secretary General of NATO claimed that Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia violated numerous UN Security Council resolutions, including resolutions endorsed by Russia. Russia, in turn, insisted the recognition was taken basing on the situation on the ground, and was in line with the UN Charter, the CSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
and other fundamental international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
.
Relations were further strained in May 2009 when NATO expelled two Russia diplomats over accusations of spying. It has also added to the tension already created by proposed NATO military exercises in Georgia, as the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said,
"The planned NATO exercises in Georgia, no matter how one tries to convince us otherwise, are an overt provocation. One cannot carry out exercises in a place where there was just a war."
In front of the Russian Parliamentary elections in 2011, President Dimitri Medvedev was also quoted as saying that had Russia not invaded Georgia in 2008, NATO would have expanded further eastward.
Future enlargement plans of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia
The Russian Government believes plans to expandEnlargement of NATO
Enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the process of including new member states in NATO. NATO is a military alliance of states in Europe and North America whose organization constitutes a system of collective defence. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article...
NATO to Ukraine and Georgia may negatively affect European security. Russia, Ukraine and Georgia have long and deep historical, cultural and economical ties, and the incumbent President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
stated in 2008 that "no country would be happy about a military bloc to which it did not belong approaching its borders".
Missile defence in Central Europe
The Russian Government says that a US proposedGround-Based Midcourse Defense
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense is the United States system for intercepting incoming warheads in space. Currently, it is a major component of the U.S. national missile defense strategy aimed against ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles...
missile defence system in Poland
US missile defense complex in Poland
The US missile defense complex in Poland, also called the European Interceptor Site was part of the Ballistic Missile Defense European Capability of the US, to be placed in Redzikowo, Słupsk, Poland, forming a Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system in conjunction with a US narrow-beam midcourse...
and in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
could threaten its own defences. The Russian Space Forces commander, Colonel General
Colonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Vladimir Popovkin
Vladimir Popovkin
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Popovkin is the General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency and First Deputy Defense Minister of Russia. He is a retired General of the Army and former commander of the Russian Space Forces.- Biography :...
stated in 2007 that "[the] trajectories of Iranian
Iran and weapons of mass destruction
Iran is not known to currently possess weapons of mass destruction and has signed treaties repudiating the possession of weapons of mass destruction including the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
or Korean
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
North Korea has declared that it has nuclear weapons and is believed by many to have nuclear weapons. The CIA assesses that North Korea also has a substantial arsenal of chemical weapons...
missiles would hardly pass anywhere near the territory of the Czech republic, but every possible launch of Russian ICBM from the territory of the European Russia
European Russia
European Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 square kilometres , larger in area than India, and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its eastern border is defined by the Ural Mountains and in the south it is defined by the border with...
, or made by Russian Northern Fleet would be controlled by the [radar] station".
Position of the NATO Secretary General
In September 2009 speech NATO Secretary General Anders RasmussenAnders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a Danish politician, and the 12th and current Secretary General of NATO. Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 27 November 2001 to 5 April 2009....
stated, that NATO and Russia are going to cooperate on such issues as the fight against terrorism and non-proliferation of WMDs. With that, NATO is going to stay and to continue its "open doors" policy :
Current relations
Despite consistently being at odds, in December 2009 NATO approached Russia for help in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, requesting permission for the alliance to fly cargoes (including possibly military ones) over Russian territory to Afghanistan, and to provide more helicopters for the Afghan armed forces
Military of Afghanistan
The military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Army Air Force . Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy, and the private security forces who are sometimes seen wearing military uniforms are not part of Afghanistan's military...
. Russia has so far denied these requests, although it has continued to allow transit of non-military supplies through its territory.
In April 2009, the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, suggested including Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in NATO. In March 2010 this suggestion was repeated in an open letter co-written by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
defense experts General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Klaus Naumann
Klaus Naumann
Klaus Naumann is a retired German General, who served as Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr, the German armed fources, from 1991 to 1996, and as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1996 to 1999, succeeding the British general Richard Frederick Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill...
, Frank Elbe, Ulrich Weisser, and former German Defense Minister Volker Rühe
Volker Rühe
Volker Rühe is a German politician affiliated with the CDU. He served as German Defence minister from April 1, 1992, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Kohl, to the end of the fifth Kohl Cabinet on October 27, 1998...
. In the letter it was suggested that Russia was needed in the wake of an emerging multi-polar world in order for NATO to counterbalance emerging Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n powers.
However Russian leadership has made it clear that Russia does not plan to join the alliance, preferring to keep cooperation on a lower level. The Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, is quoted as saying "Great powers don't join coalitions, they create coalitions. Russia considers itself a great power," although he said that Russia did not rule out membership at some point in the future. In March 2000 president Vladimir Putin, in interview to British television said Russia could once join NATO.