Lavrov: Russia Never Plans to  Join  NATO

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Jens Stoltenberg, General- Secretary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday evening on the sidelines of meetings of the General Assembly of the  United Nations in New York, USA.

The chief of the Russian diplomacy met the NATO senior official behind closed doors except for a tour of taking pictures for protocol purposes only.

During that tour, a reporter questioned Lavrov whether Russia intends to join NATO, but he replied decisively that Russia never intends to become a member of the organization.

For more than two decades, NATO had worked to build a partnership with Russia, developing dialogue and practical cooperation in areas of common interest.

Practical cooperation has been suspended since 2014 in response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, but political and military channels of communication remain open. Concerns about Russia’s continued destabilizing pattern of military activities and aggressive rhetoric span well beyond Ukraine.

Relations started after the end of the Cold War when Russia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991).

This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all Allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Practical cooperation started after Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program  (1994) and deployed peacekeepers in support of NATO-led peace-support operations in the Western Balkans in the late 1990s.

The 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act provided the formal basis for bilateral relations.

Dialogue and cooperation were strengthened in 2002 with the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) to serve as a forum for consultation on current security issues and to direct practical cooperation in a wide range of areas.

Russia's disproportionate military action in Georgia in August 2008 led to the suspension of formal meetings of the NRC and cooperation in some areas, until spring 2009. The Allies continue to call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

All practical civilian and military cooperation under the NRC with Russia has been suspended since April 2014, in response to Russia’s military intervention and aggressive actions in Ukraine, and its illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, which Allies condemn in the strongest terms.

While NATO stands by its international commitments, Russia has breached the values, principles, and commitments that underpin the NATO-Russia relationship, as outlined in the 1997 Basic Document of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, and 2002 Rome Declaration, has broken the trust at the core of our cooperation and has challenged the fundamental principles of the global and Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Yet, channels of political and military communication remain open to exchange information on issues of mutual interest and concern, reduce misunderstandings and increase predictability.

Allies’ concerns about Russia’s destabilizing actions and policies go beyond Ukraine. They include provocative military activities near NATO’s borders stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea; irresponsible and aggressive nuclear rhetoric, military posture, and underlying posture; and the nerve agent attack in the United Kingdom in March 2018, which was a clear breach of international norms.

On 2 August 2019, the North Atlantic Council issued a statement supporting the United States decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in response to Russia’s material breach of the Treaty. The Allies regret that Russia has shown no willingness and has taken no steps to comply with its international obligations. NATO will respond in a measured and responsible way to the significant risks posed by Russia’s SSC-8 system. At the same time, Allies are firmly committed to the preservation of effective international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation.

NATO has responded to this changed security environment by enhancing its deterrence and defense posture, while remaining open to periodic, focused, and meaningful dialogue with Russia. The Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia.

In September 2020, Allies condemned in the strongest terms the nerve gas attack on Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.