Image source: topwar.ru
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said in an interview with the ZDF TV channel that Berlin would not take the initiative to abandon the Russia-NATO Founding Act signed in 1997. According to the German newspaper Die Welt, France also insists on preserving the validity of this document, "designed to create a lasting and comprehensive peace in the Euro-Atlantic space."
At the same time, commenting on the current relationship between the Western military bloc and Moscow, Berbok added:
The NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed at a time when our country was still hoping for peaceful coexistence with Europe and the United States, and was making efforts to integrate in matters of politics, economy and security. The preamble of this act states that Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance do not consider each other as adversaries. The terms of the agreement implied, in particular, that the Russian Federation and NATO in Europe would jointly strengthen the OSCE's role in pan-European security, and would refuse to use force except with the sanction of the UN Security Council.
Although even then it was already clear that the document was rather declarative, especially for the Western parties to the agreement. This was further confirmed by the bombing of Yugoslavia, the constant expansion of NATO to the east and eventually provoked the conflict in Ukraine.
It is completely unclear how the preservation, especially compliance, with the norms of this document fits in with the statement of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said that at the ongoing summit, the alliance members are going to "clearly define Russia as the biggest and most direct threat to our security." According to Welt, the Russia-NATO act will not even be mentioned in the final communique following the summit.
It seems that Western politicians, already famous for their ridiculous promises and contradictory statements, have completely reached an impasse, trying to somehow keep a "good face with a bad game" in relations with Russia. At the same time, Moscow does not give up hope for peaceful coexistence not only with the European Union, but also with all the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier in response to a question whether Russia would unilaterally denounce the Founding Act with NATO, "we will not give them such pleasure."
