Following the US-Russia summit in Geneva, Russia will conduct talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels on security assurances, according to the Russian news agency TASS. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, was quoted by TASS as saying that
TASS reports that he stated that “after the conference in Geneva, the event is likely to be arranged in Brussels with NATO, and the preparations and other details are being worked out.”
Relations between Russia and the West are strained as a result of Russia’s military buildup along its border with Ukraine. Despite Russia’s insistence that it has no plans to attack Ukraine, it believes that the country’s manoeuvres represent a threat to the Russian Federation. This is being viewed as a possible pretext for Russia to invade Ukraine in the near future.
Russia is adamantly opposed to Ukraine’s membership in the NATO alliance. As a result, Russia considers such inclusion to be a step backwards in terms of its regional dominance. Ukraine was a constituent republic of Soviet Russia. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his displeasure with the entry of Ukraine in NATO. He was speaking at a news conference last week, according to the report.
NATO said on Tuesday (December 28) that it had to call in fighter jets hundreds of times this year to safeguard member states’ airspace against Russian aggression in the Baltic Sea.
According to the Western-led military alliance, 290 out of about 370 total sorties were flown in 2021 in reaction to the activity of Russian fighter planes and missiles.