EXPLAINER: Moscow's rocky relationship with NATO alliance

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MOSCOW – A Russian subject buildup adjacent Ukraine has raised fears successful Kyiv and the West that Moscow mightiness invade its neighbor.

The tensions implicit Ukraine travel amid a caller debased successful relations betwixt Russia and NATO, which erstwhile were truthful lukewarm that President Vladimir Putin adjacent floated the imaginable of his state joining the subject alliance.

A look astatine Russia-NATO ties:

COLD WAR & COMMUNISM'S COLLAPSE

For decades passim the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies successful Central and Eastern Europe were locked successful a tense standoff with NATO.

That confrontation eased successful the 1980s erstwhile Soviet person Mikhail Gorbachev moved to betterment the Soviet Union and encouraged antiauthoritarian reforms successful East bloc countries. Gorbachev didn't effort to avert the illness of communist regimes successful those allies, and helium rapidly agreed to the reunification of East and West Germany aft the 1989 autumn of the Berlin Wall.

During the talks connected German reunification, Gorbachev received Western promises that NATO wouldn't grow eastward, but helium ne'er documented those verbal pledges.

Busy with governmental and economical crises that followed the 1991 illness of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin paid small attraction erstwhile Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO successful 1999.

That aforesaid year, NATO's aerial run against what is present Serbia, a Russian ally, marked the archetypal large rift betwixt Moscow and the subject confederation since the USSR collapsed.

PUTIN ENTERS WITH A BRIEF THAW

After Putin succeeded Yeltsin successful 2000, helium moved rapidly to bolster relations with the West, adjacent investigating the grounds for Russia to perchance articulation NATO.

Lord George Robertson, who was NATO's secretary-general successful 1999-2004, precocious recalled however Putin asked him erstwhile the confederation was going to invitation Russia and however helium was offended erstwhile Robertson replied that Moscow would person to use for membership, conscionable similar immoderate different candidate.

Putin aboriginal said NATO was unwilling to clasp Russia due to the fact that the West feared its powerfulness and autarkic stance.

While exploring imaginable NATO membership, Putin besides moved to forge person governmental and information ties with Washington and its allies.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, violent attacks, Putin was the archetypal overseas person to telephone then-U.S. President George W. Bush, offering assistance. He rapidly welcomed the U.S. subject deployment to bases successful erstwhile Soviet republics successful Central Asia for the warfare successful Afghanistan. In different goodwill gesture, Putin moved to unopen Soviet-era bases successful Cuba and Vietnam.

Even though Moscow's NATO bid ne'er materialized, Russia and the confederation agreed successful 2002 to found a assembly to coordinate policies and cooperate connected warring coercion and different issues.

A CHILL RETURNS

Russia-NATO ties began to worsen successful 2002 aft Washington opted retired of a Cold-War-era pact banning defenses against ballistic missiles, a determination Moscow saw arsenic a imaginable menace to its atomic deterrent.

The U.S. warfare successful Iraq successful 2003 drew beardown disapproval from Moscow and further strained relations. Russia grumbled further erstwhile Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the erstwhile Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined NATO successful 2004.

Tensions betwixt the West and Russia mounted successful 2004 implicit the Orange Revolution protests successful Ukraine that forced the cancellation of a fraud-tinged predetermination triumph of a Kremlin-backed statesmanlike candidate. The Kremlin viewed those protests and the earlier ouster of an unpopular person successful the erstwhile Soviet republic of Georgia arsenic Western-inspired meddling successful what it considered Russia's backyard.

In a watershed code astatine a information league successful Munich, Germany, successful 2007, Putin sharply criticized U.S. moves astir the world, saying Washington “has overstepped its nationalist borders successful each way,” and called NATO’s eastward enlargement “a superior provocation.”

RUSSIA-GEORGIA WAR

Russia complained vociferously erstwhile NATO promised rank to Ukraine and Georgia astatine a acme successful Bucharest, Romania, successful April 2008, seeing it arsenic a stroke to its captious information interests.

Four months later, Russia routed Georgia successful a five-day warfare that erupted erstwhile the South Caucasus federation utilized unit to effort to reclaim power implicit the Moscow-backed separatist state of South Ossetia.

Russia rapidly recognized South Ossetia and different Georgian rebel province, Abkhazia, arsenic autarkic nations and bolstered its subject foothold there.

UKRAINIAN CONFLICT BRINGS MOVES AND COUNTERMOVES

In 2014, Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych was driven from powerfulness by wide demonstrations that broke retired erstwhile helium decided to ditch an statement with the European Union, successful favour of person ties with Moscow.

Russia responded by annexing Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing separatist rebels successful eastbound Ukraine's concern heartland, known arsenic the Donbas. The conflict, present successful its eighth year, has killed implicit 14,000 people, and efforts to question a governmental colony person failed. Moscow denies immoderate involvement, saying immoderate Russians progressive successful the warring are volunteers joining the separatists.

The U.S. and its allies past slapped Moscow with sanctions, and NATO halted each applicable practice with Moscow, bolstering its forces adjacent Russia. The Kremlin denounced those deployments and drills adjacent its borders arsenic a information threat.

In October, Russia suspended its ngo astatine NATO and ordered the closure of the alliance’s bureau successful Moscow aft NATO withdrew the accreditation of 8 Russian officials to its Brussels office implicit their alleged ties to Russian intelligence.

Tensions soared past period amid the Russian unit buildup adjacent Ukraine. Putin has denied readying specified an onslaught but sought a Western pledge that NATO wouldn’t incorporated Ukraine into the confederation oregon deploy its forces determination — an enlargement helium described arsenic a “red line” for Moscow.

In a video telephone past week, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin of “severe consequences” if Russia invades Ukraine, but promised to clasp consultations to code Russian concerns.

NEXT STEPS FOR NATO, RUSSIA

NATO’s credibility hinges connected its communal defence guarantee, known arsenic Article 5, nether which an onslaught connected 1 subordinate is considered an onslaught connected them all, and its committedness to connection rank to immoderate European state that tin lend to information successful Europe and North America. But some Ukraine and Georgia person unresolved conflicts connected their territories, and bringing them successful present would oblige each 30 subordinate countries to outpouring to their defence militarily.

Russia wants the West to marque a ineligible pledge not to deploy forces and weapons to Ukraine, and the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded past week that NATO rescind its 2008 pledge to judge Ukraine and Georgia arsenic members.

The U.S. and different NATO allies rejected Russia's demands. “NATO’s narration with Ukraine is going to beryllium decided by the 30 NATO allies and Ukraine, nary 1 else,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said past week.

Putin countered NATO's statement by saying that portion Ukraine is escaped to determine its information arrangements, those shouldn't endanger Russia.

“Every state surely has the close to take the astir acceptable mode of ensuring its security, but it indispensable beryllium done successful a mode that doesn’t infringe connected the interests and undermine information of different countries, successful this lawsuit Russia,” Putin said. “Security indispensable beryllium planetary and arsenic screen everyone.”

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Associated Press writer Lorne Cook successful Brussels contributed.

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