Russia Breaks Diplomatic Ties With NATO – The New York Times

MOSCOW Russia plans to cease its diplomatic engagement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Russian foreign minister said on Monday, in the latest sign of unraveling relations between Moscow and the West.

Though significant on a diplomatic level, the announcement was not apparently accompanied by any military moves by Russia threatening European security. And Moscow still maintains diplomatic relations with the individual governments in the alliance.

The decision will end a post-Cold War experiment, never very successful, in building trust between Russia and the Western alliance, established decades ago to contain the Soviet Union, which officials in Moscow accused of later encroaching on former Soviet territory.

By early next month, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, Russia will halt the activities of its representative office at NATO headquarters in Brussels and withdraw diplomatic credentials from emissaries of the alliance working in Moscow.

NATOs response was muted. We have taken note of the decision by Russia to suspend the work of its diplomatic mission, a spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said. NATOs policy toward Russia remains consistent. We have strengthened our deterrence and defense in response to Russias aggressive actions, while at the same time we remain open to dialogue.

The breakoff of diplomatic ties also comes as President Biden is seeking to strengthen the European alliance after former President Donald J. Trump denigrated members as freeloaders on American military spending and threatened to withdraw.

Relations between Moscow and the West have been strained for years, but the immediate impetus for the Russian move was a spy scandal.

Earlier this month, NATO ordered eight Russian diplomats to leave Belgium by Nov. 1, saying they were undeclared intelligence officers. The alliance also reduced the size of the Russian representative office.

In response, Mr. Lavrov said Russias entire diplomatic mission would leave by Nov. 1, or a few days after that date.

Because of NATOs targeted steps, proper conditions for elemental diplomatic activity dont exist, he said. In response to NATOs actions, we are halting the work of our permanent representation to NATO, including the work of the main military envoy.

Relations with the alliance had in any case long ago gone off the rails, he said. NATO had already twice reduced the size of the Russian delegation, in 2015 and 2018, he said. On the military level there are absolutely no contacts taking place, he said.

He said NATO had set up a prohibitive regime for Russian diplomats in Brussels by banning them from its headquarters building. Without visiting the building, he said, they could not maintain ties with alliance officials.

Mr. Lavrov suggested the expulsions of Russian diplomats had come as an unwelcome surprise, as he had met in New York just days earlier with the alliances secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, and discussed de-escalating tensions.

He in every way underscored the honest, as he said, interest in the North Atlantic alliance in normalizing relations with the Russian Federation, Mr. Lavrov said.

NATO could still convey diplomatic messages to Russias embassy in Brussels, if necessary, Mr. Lavrov said.

In addition to diplomatic frictions, military tensions have also escalated in recent years, including last spring when Russian troops massed along Ukraines border, ostensibly for a military exercise.

In the immediate post-Cold War era, Russia had claimed a moral high ground in relations with NATO. Moscow, Russians noted, had dismantled its alliance of that era, the Warsaw Pact, while NATO in contrast expanded into former Soviet and East Bloc nations. Russia has since initiated new military alliances of its own, with former Soviet states and with China.

Relations were also strained by NATOs intervention in the Balkan wars in the 1990s against Serbia, a Russian ally.

Russia responded, for a time, by dispatching an outspoken nationalist, Dmitry O. Rogozin, now the director of Russias space program, as its emissary to the alliance in Brussels, where he became a thorn in the side of NATO officials.

The problems simmered on. NATOs view of Russia dimmed further after Russia intervened militarily in Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine is not a NATO member, but Russias aggressive moves there revived worries of an expansionist Kremlin agenda in Eastern Europe.

In announcing the halt to Russias diplomatic relations with NATO, Mr. Lavrov said Monday that the alliance didnt show any interest in equal dialogue or joint work. He said there was no need to go on pretending that in the foreseeable future anything will change.

Monika Pronczuk contributed reporting.

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Russia Breaks Diplomatic Ties With NATO - The New York Times