June 9, 2016 (BBC News Europe) Nato
and Russia are to meet to discuss the Ukraine crisis, which has severely
strained relations since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. The
Nato-Russia Council will convene in the next two weeks to discuss the peace
process in eastern Ukraine, as well as the situation in Afghanistan. But Nato
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that it was not a "return to
business as usual". Nato has moved to bolster its forces in its east
European member states. The forthcoming meeting, Mr Stoltenberg said, was
"the continuation of our political dialogue as agreed by Nato heads of
state and government". "At the same time, there will be no return to business
as usual until Russia again respects international law," he added.
The
Nato-Russia Council was established in 2002. Meetings at ambassadorial level have not taken place since June 2014,
although there has been other political dialogue. Nato announced last month
that an extra armoured brigade would be deployed in eastern Europe, meaning a
total of three will be there on a continuous basis.
General Philip
Breedlove, the senior US commander in Europe, talked of "reassuring... Nato
allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in eastern Europe and
elsewhere". Russia is widely accused of covertly backing the rebels who
now control much of eastern Ukraine after a bloody armed conflict with the
government in Kiev.
A US destroyer visited the Polish port of Gdynia on Friday
Late last
year, Russian President Vladimir Putin described Nato's expansion as a threat
to his country. A national security paper was updated to say that Nato's recent
build-up of military potential around Russia's borders constituted
"violations of norms of international law". Tension between Nato and
Russia, which both possess huge nuclear arsenals dating back to the Cold War,
has clouded international relations since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine
following the peninsula's disputed referendum on self-determination.
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