Evolution of relations between NATO and Russian Federation
NATO-Russia relations started after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 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 programme (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, including by establishing the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC) as a forum for consultation and cooperation.
Russia froze its relations with NATO because of differences over the Kosovo crisis in 1999, but resumed cooperation activities – including participation in the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) – and meetings within the PJC following the end of NATO’s air campaign in Kosovo.
Dialogue and cooperation were strengthened in 2002, when the PJC was replaced by the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), established by the 2002 Rome Declaration to serve as a forum for consultation, consensus-building, cooperation, joint decision-making and joint action. Within the NRC, the individual NATO member states and Russia have worked as equal partners on a wide spectrum of security issues of common interest.
To facilitate regular contacts and cooperation, NATO and Russia agreed to create political and military channels of communication. To that end, Russia established a diplomatic mission to NATO in 1998. NATO opened an Information Office in Moscow (NIO) in 2001 and a Military Liaison Mission (MLM) in 2002.
The NIO served as the focal point for disseminating information within Russia on NATO, contributing to the Russian public’s understanding of evolving relations between the Russian Federation and NATO. The NIO contributed to these objectives by distributing NATO official information through print and digital channels to the Russian public, sponsoring communications projects by Russian non-governmental organisations and providing information on NATO’s educational and scientific programmes for Russian institutions and potential Russian applicants. It also organised visits for Russian visitors to NATO Headquarters in Brussels and other NATO sites, as well as for NATO representatives to the Russian Federation.
The MLM contributed to NATO-Russia relations by maintaining an open channel of communication between NATO’s Military Committee in Brussels and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Maintaining a channel of military-to-military communication helped to increase predictability and reduce the risk of misunderstandings that could lead to conflicts.
Russia’s disproportionate military action in Georgia in August 2008 led to the temporary suspension of formal meetings of the NRC and cooperation in some areas; meetings and cooperation resumed in spring 2009. The Allies continue to condemn Russia’s decision to recognise the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
All practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia was suspended in April 2014, in response to Russia’s military intervention and aggressive actions in Ukraine, and its illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, which NATO will never recognise.
In October 2021, Russia suspended the work of its diplomatic mission to NATO, and required NATO to close down the NATO Information Office in Moscow and suspend the work of the NATO Military Liaison Mission in Moscow. NATO regrets Russia’s decision to curtail political channels of communication and dialogue. NATO remains committed to making good use of the existing military lines of communication between both sides to promote predictability and transparency, and to reduce risks, and calls on Russia to do so as well.
Through its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has rejected the path of diplomacy and dialogue repeatedly offered to it by NATO and Allies. It has fundamentally violated international law, including the United Nations Charter. Russia’s actions are also a flagrant rejection of the principles enshrined in the NATO-Russia Founding Act; it is Russia that has walked away from its commitments under the Founding Act. Any change in the NATO-Russia relationship depends on the Russian Federation halting its aggressive behaviour and fully complying with international law.
