NATO is not going to alter the format of relations with Russia chosen in connection with the Ukrainian crisis because it does not see Moscow taking definite steps towards de-escalation in this conflict, a NATO senior official said at a press briefing on June 23.
The alliance has decided to suspend any practical collaboration with
Russia, he said while presenting the agenda of a Brussels sitting of
NATO foreign ministers on June 24-25.
The Russia-NATO Council is still a diplomatic channel, but its joint
committees do not converge and the ministers are not expected to change
that format at the upcoming sitting, he said. At the same time, the
Russia-NATO Council may hold an ambassadorial meeting to discuss the
Ukrainian crisis. The latest meeting was not very pleasant but similar
meetings will be held after the NATO foreign ministerial conference.
Their precise dates are yet unknown, the official said.
The ministers will have lunch on June 25 to ponder political
implications of the Russian attempt to reshape by force the European
political map, he said.
They will not just urge Russia to stop the flow of personnel and
armaments into Ukraine and destabilization of that country and to
publicly support the peace plan of President Poroshenko but will also
stress the importance of universal compliance with the Geneva
commitments to peace and stability in Ukraine, said the officer from the
NATO political unit.
Meanwhile, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the alliance’s
administration had not noticed a significant improvement on the Russian
side of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
She said they had seen the return of two Russian military units with
the approximate numbers of 2,000 men to the Ukrainian border. The units
joined a unit of about 1,000 men standing by for a political order,
Lungescu said, adding it was a step back rather than a step towards
de-escalation.
