Does Russia Reduce Contacts with NATO or Fix Existing Realities?

• 07.13.2017, 11:18
•  Europe,  America,  Region,  World

inosmi.ru

NATO member states will express their dissatisfaction at Russia-NATO Council meeting on July 13 in connection with the dangerous actions of Russian pilots in the airspace of the Baltic Sea, Politico reports. It is noted that this is not the only dissatisfaction among NATO member states towards Russia. It is also planned to tackle the issue of holding large-scale military exercises "Capt-2017" by Russia. Recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

It is worth mentioning that all these allegations are denied by Russia, moreover, Moscow accuses the alliance of the military presence on its borders with European countries, which is viewed as a threat to Russia's security.

 As a result, the possibility of a constructive dialogue between the sides is very small at the moment. "NATO cannot provide a constructive dialogue, and any debate involves accusations against the Russian side," the source from Russian Ministry of Defense told Izvestia. According to the latter, it is for this reason that Russia is thinking of lowering its representation in NATO, replacing its permanent representative by a temporarily one.

At the same time, it is noted that there is no final decision on this issue as Moscow gives importance to contacts with the North Atlantic Alliance. "Moscow can take such a step if there are no positive changes in the near future," the Russian MFA source said.

However, from the statements made before the session it becomes clear that the parties will continue their policy of mutual accusations, which has begun since 2014 conditioned by Ukrainian crisis. Therefore, it is not worth expecting any effective dialogue.

 Additional aggravation of Russia-NATO relations, including the reduction of the representative level, may also have a negative impact on Armenia-NATO relations. It is natural that in case of maintaining the negative dynamics of the relations, Armenia's strategic ally may show some "jealousy" towards the NATO-Armenia cooperation.