Russia announced on October 18, 2021, that it was suspending its mission to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and will be closing the alliance’s office in Moscow, as the relations with the western military bloc plunged to new depths.
Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Lavrov announced the decision after NATO expelled several members of Moscow’s delegation to the alliance for alleged spying.
Lavrov said, “Following the certain measures taken by NATO, the basic conditions for common work no longer exist.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister further added that NATO has already greatly reduced its contacts with Russia’s mission and that the alliance is no longer interested in dialogue and work as equals.
However, Lavrov informed that in case of urgent matters NATO can liaise via the Russian Ambassador in Belgium.
⚡️ #Statement on response measures to #NATO decisions regarding the @natomission_ru:
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) October 18, 2021
❗️ The activities of the @NATO Military Liaison Mission Moscow shall be suspended.
❗️ The @NATOmoscowR at the Belgium Embassy in Moscow shall be closed down.
🔗 https://t.co/BoPlvLh3J9 pic.twitter.com/3w3kOjH5EC
Why Russia has closed NATO missions?
Russia’s move of closing NATO mission has come after NATO, earlier in October 2021, stripped eight members of Moscow’s mission to the alliance of their accreditation. The General- Secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg called them the ‘undeclared Russian intelligence officers.'
| Lavrov informed that Russia will be suspending the work of its official mission to NATO in Brussels, including its military representatives from November 1, 2021. The country will also be shutting down the alliance’s liaison mission in the Belgium embassy in Moscow and the NATO information office set up in 2001 to improve the understanding between NATO and Russia. |
Russia-NATO relations
Russia had an observer mission to NATO as part of a two-decade-old NATO-Russia Council which was meant to promote cooperation in the common security areas.
However, the meetings of the NATO-Russia Council have not been held since 2019 because of the heightened tensions.
The latest development has cut off years of efforts to improve the ties between Russia and NATO that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Increase in Russian malign activities: NATO
NATO General-Secretary informed that there has been an increase in Russian malign activities, at least in Europe, and therefore there is a need to act. Stoltenberg further defined the relationship between NATO and Russia as at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
The Russian Mission to NATO had also been downsized before when seven of its members were ejected after the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a Russian former double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Britain.
Diminishing relations between Russia and West
The relationship between Russian and the Western countries has been on a downward spiral ever since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the support for pro-Russian separatists in the country’s east.
West has imposed series of sanctions in recent years over Ukraine, alleged cyberattacks, election interference, and the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Russia in turn has accused the Western Countries of interfering in its elections and for supporting anti-Kremlin forces nations such as Georgia and Ukraine that Russia considers part of its traditional sphere of influence.
The recent announcement of closing NATO mission by Russia came after the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Tbilisi for a visit to three allies on the Black Sea- Romania, Ukraine, and Georgia. He aims to deliver a message of support against threats from Russia.
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