NATO adheres to the “dual strategy” towards Russia: on the one hand, “deterrence”, on the other – the desire to “deepen the dialogue”, said Secretary General of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg. However, NATO planned the placement of the battalions in Poland and the Baltic States has caused sharply negative reaction of the Kremlin and questioned NATO’s intention to “reset” relations with Moscow, said Der Spiegel.
“We decided to pursue a dual strategy towards Russia, said in an interview with Der Spiegel NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. – On the one hand, defensive deterrence, on the other – political dialogue with Russia.”
As the correspondent of Der Spiegel’s Matthias Gebauer, NATO will stay the course until the summit, which will take place in July. Two years after the”annexation of Crimea,” NATO is seeking to“reset” relations with Moscow, new negotiations to prevent “dangerous military incidents”, as was the case with the American warship “cook”.
Meanwhile, NATO plans to deploy in the Baltic States and Poland four battalions with a total number of four thousand soldiers, and Germany plays a “major role” in Lithuania. From the point of view of Russia, the armament of NATO to the East is a provocation.President Vladimir Putin was not tired to accuse NATO“aggression” and the severance agreements with Russia. Therefore, Moscow announced the increase of its forces on the Western borders of Russia. “And it is in this tense situation needs to undergo a restart of the dialogue”, says Gebauer.
First of all, NATO diplomats seek to prevent dangerous situations arising between ships and aircraft of NATO and Russia. This predstavitelyami constantly confronted with the contradictions in communication with the Russian colleagues. In particular, from their point of view, “the annexation of the Crimea” was a breach of international law, and from the point of view of Russia, Crimea was “annexed”, to protect Russian living there. Similarly, both sides accused each other of military incidents.
Despite all this, German foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insists on dialogue with Russia and urged not to break off negotiations with Moscow and deepening them: “Even if this does not resolve all issues, a regular exchange of views is better than a dangerous silence between the two of them”. According to Steinmeier, even if Russia is “big conflict”, Moscow “it is necessary to attract as a partner for overcoming the conflicts in Syria and Libya”.
Scheduled shortly before the NATO summit military doctrine called “Anaconda” will be evaluated by Russia as another provocation. “As part of the exercises will be feigned by the attack on the country, a NATO member and an emergency situation for the Alliance”, – says the author. Thus the statements Stoltenberg is not reinforced in Russia, hopes for a”reset”, concludes the author of the Der Spiegel.
