On 9-11 July, Washington will host a NATO summit marking the 75th anniversary of the Alliance. According to its organisers, it will be held amid the alleged deterioration of European security. Representatives of 32 member states and other invited countries and organisations will discuss stronger measures aimed at inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia through indirect actions, military support to Ukraine, and opportunities for NATO further advancement, including in Asia-Pacific.
Comprehensive deterrence of the USSR was the initial task of the North Atlantic Alliance. The Soviet Union dissolution did not alter NATO anti-Russian orientation. Despite the declared intention towards constructive cooperation with Moscow, the Alliance compromised Russia’s security through continued provocations, including eastward enlargement, by bringing military infrastructure closer to the Russian borders and drawing post-Soviet states into its orbit.
At the same time, NATO leadership had to put a lot of effort to convince the member states that the organisation was still relevant. The Kosovo crisis came in handy. NATO demonstrated that it was not just a political organisation, but a functional military bloc, which can resolve matters of war and peace unilaterally, bypassing the UN Security Council.
Then NATO fought terrorism in Afghanistan and carried out a ‘humanitarian’ intervention in Libya. Then they promoted the idea of ‘global NATO’, which came down to partnerships with few selected countries. But the Ukrainian crisis has brought everything back on track, and the Alliance has resumed containing its old and worthy enemy – Russia.
NATO started providing political, financial and military assistance to Kyiv long before the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine (SMO). In 1989, top US military officer Colin Powell said that if NATO opens its doors to new members tomorrow, they would receive several applications within a week – perhaps even from Ukraine. Today, ahead of the NATO summit, Brussels says that though at the moment Ukraine will not become an Alliance member, Kiev will get a “bridge to that goal”.
Moscow’s decisive actions to defend national interests in response to the Western-initiated coup in Ukraine in 2014 revealed the Alliance true face. Brussels used the return of Crimea to Russia as an excuse for open confrontation. In their doctrinal documents, Russia has become “a probable enemy”. The NATO 2022 Strategic Concept defines Russia as “the most significant and direct threat”.
When the SMO began, the Alliance and their puppet Kiev regime have unleashed a full-scale “hybrid aggression” against Russia using diplomatic, information and economic tools. The NATO member states provide financial and military assistance to Kiev, estimated at $132 billion, with the US share of $63 billion. Since February 2022, Ukraine received 800 tanks; 3500 armoured combat vehicles; 1500 artillery pieces; 270 multiple rocket launchers; 250 anti-aircraft missile systems; 7700 MANPADS; 290000 anti-tank weapons; 130 aircraft and helicopters; 30000 unmanned aerial vehicles.
The largest weapons shipments were sent in 2023 ahead of the counterattack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), which was supposed to mark a turning point in the conflict and create conditions for negotiations on Kiev’s terms. However, the Russian army successfully grinded down the Western equipment.
Recently, NATO has started equipping the UAF with high-precision long-range weapons to destroy objects deep in the Russian territory. This is allegedly being done so that Kiev could launch an offensive before the US elections to demonstrate its ability to conduct active hostilities.
Zelensky’s regime receives intelligence data from NATO satellites, radars, and reconnaissance aircrafts, while NATO countries’ mercenaries participate in combat operations alongside the Ukrainian forces. If Brussels really intends to resolve the conflict in Ukraine by political and diplomatic means, they would stop supplying it with weapons, intelligence and mercenaries.
NATO preparing for a large-scale war against Russia is another menace. What makes it even more disturbing is the number of member states having nuclear weapons and high-precision long distance weapons with the US anti-missile defence system being deployed worldwide. The “no first use” obligation is missing in the US 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, which is justified by the reluctance to show weakness in the face of Russia and China with their great military capabilities.
NATO is also bolstering tactical nuclear weapons, including US tactical nuclear aerial bombs and aircraft squadrons. Around 200 items of special ammunition have already been deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Türkiye, while Poland and the Baltic countries stand for hosting American tactical nuclear weapons.
Amid the SMO, high intensity of NATO operational and combat training in Eastern Europe is a direct military threat to Russia. In 2023-2024, more than 40 major exercises, including Steadfast Defender, were held near the Russian borders to practice employment of coalition formations in operations against Russia.
Brussels is building up other capabilities as well. In 2022, NATO announced its “Overarching Space Policy” with the near-Earth space as a new operational domain. At the same time, infrastructure for information, psychological and cyber operations is being increasingly deployed along Russia’s borders.
While claiming to be a global guarantor of international security, NATO attempts to spread its influence beyond the Euro-Atlantic, particularly to tailor the established system of interstate interaction in Asia-Pacific to its own needs. Russia presumes that “Indo-Pacific strategies” are in fact aimed at creating military and political groupings under Washington and Brussels control. NATO forces might be fully integrated in the AUKUS structures. “AUKUS Plus” format with Japan and South Korea is being widely discussed. The idea of the USA - Japan - South Korea triangle, considered as “Asian NATO”, is being revived.
The number of military manoeuvres in Asia Pacific is rising. The largest-ever air exercise Pacific Skies 24 will be held by Germany, France and Spain in late July on the Japanese Hokkaido island in the immediate proximity to the Russian borders. The USA and the Philippines expand Balikatan joint exercise aimed at containing “rivals in Asia Pacific”.
NATO attempts to establish global dominance, jeopardise the entire security architecture in Asia, undermine the authority of ASEAN and other regional organisations, and create challenges for non-proliferation. These activities pose a threat to every country in the region, including Russia, and will not be left without response.
Evidently, NATO activities offer no positive agenda and do not contribute to peace and security. Instead, the USA and its European allies have been consistently destroying the system of international security.
They have not reacted to any of Russia’s substantive initiatives. They rejected the adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, shelved the proposed Treaty on European Security, did not discuss the draft Agreement on the Principles of Security Relations between the Member States of the NATO-Russia Council, and refused to provide guarantees that their air defence systems would not be directed against Russia.
The Americans withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty under far-fetched pretexts, repeatedly violated the Treaty on Open Skies and then withdrew from it, and made it impossible to extend the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms with Russia.
To prevent further degradation of the European security caused by Western irresponsibility, on 17 December 2021, Russia proposed to sign a Treaty on Security Guarantees with the USA and the Agreement on Security Measures with NATO. These documents clearly set out legally binding provisions for security indivisibility: non-expansion of NATO, non-deployment of threatening weapons systems near our borders, moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, returning the configuration of the Alliance’s forces to their 1997 positions.
Indivisible security as the key principle determining behaviour of states in the political-military sphere was essentially rejected by Washington and its allies. Our trajectory of further relations with European neighbours will be determined once the goals and tasks of the SMO are accomplished.
The writer is Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh.
BDST: 2141 HRS, JULY 09, 2024
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