NATO announces plans to mend strained Russia ties
A senior NATO commander has emphasized the importance of relations with Russia, saying the Western military alliance plans to re-establish contact with Moscow following months of tensions.
During a Thursday news conference, General Philip Breedlove, the commander of the US European Command and NATO Allied Command Operations, announced plans to re-establish ties with Moscow, which have soured in recent months over the crisis in Ukraine.
“We have talked an awful lot about how we re-establish communication and the fact that the communication with our senior military interlocutors in Russia is important,” said Breedlove.
The NATO official further said he had held talks with General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, after relations between the two sides strained last year.
“We are going to re-establish that, we have talked among several of us senior military leaders how we will do that... but yes, we are going to re-establish communication with Valery [Gerasimov],” Breedlove added.
Relations between Russia and NATO strained after Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea integrated into the Russian Federation following a referendum last March. The military alliance ended all practical cooperation with Russia over the ensuing crisis in Ukraine on April 1, 2014.
Later in April 2014, the Kremlin recalled its chief military representative to NATO, Colonel-General Valery Evnevich, for consultations after NATO suspended military and civilian cooperation with Russia.
Last month, Russia approved an updated version of the country’s military doctrine which considers NATO military buildup as a major foreign threat against its national security.
The United States and its European allies accuse Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine and have imposed a series of sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia figures. Moscow, however, rejects the accusation.
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