NEWSWATCH: Prospects for NATO-Russia relations: Keynote address by NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow

Alexander Vershbow file photo

[“Prospects for NATO-Russia relations: Keynote address by NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow at the 2015 Leangkollen Conference, Oslo” – Alexander Vershbow – NATO transcript – Feb. 2, 2015]

In his keynote address at the 2015 Leangkollen Conference, Oslo, NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow addressed the Ukraine conflict and challenges facing NATO-Russia relations.

Vershbow holds that Russian aggression has undermined the stability of European security frameworks.

To the East, Russia has torn up the international rule book. It has returned to a strategy of power politics. It threatens not just Ukraine, but European and global security more generally. And it is pursuing this strategy even as the costs to its own prosperity and reputation grow.
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Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not an isolated incident, but a game-changer in European security. It reflects an evolving pattern of behavior… emerging for several years, despite our efforts to reach out to Russia and build a cooperative European security system with Russia.

… we must contend with a Russia that wants to go back to a Europe based on spheres of influence and doctrines of limited sovereignty for its neighbors – policies that are a throwback to an earlier time, a time we thought we had put behind us.  …

Russia has used force to alter legally recognized borders and to actively subvert the government of a neighboring state.  Although it claims to want de-escalation and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, its actions tell a different story.

In the past, there were hopes and some realizations of greater NATO cooperation with Russia, manifested, for example, in Afghanistan, counterterrorism, airspace management and maritime search-and-rescue.

However, especially since Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency, a growing anti-Western posture has unfolded, along with Russian aggression in Ukraine.

First and foremost, before we can re-engage with Russia, Moscow must de-escalate the situation in Ukraine.  It must stop sending weapons and supplies to the rebels in the Donbass, it must pull its own soldiers and advisors out of Eastern Ukraine, and it must work constructively to implement the provisions of the Minsk accords – in full, not selectively.  The Russian-backed offensive by the separatists over the weekend makes a diplomatic solution more difficult, but it is still the best way out.

In addition to voicing a variety of concerns and observations, Vershbow exhorts positive change and forward progress in NATO-Russia relations.

We do not seek confrontation with Russia.  And neither are we looking for regime change.  What we do want is for Moscow to change its behavior; to abide by the very good rules that Russia itself once subscribed to; and to return to the spirit of cooperation that has brought all our nations more freedom, prosperity and opportunities than ever before.  This may be a long time coming, and will call for strategic patience, but I don’t think we have any alternative.

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[featured image is file photo]

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