Norwegian soldiers at the NATO base in Rukla, Latvia. File photoMOSCOW, May 30.NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that in connection with Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the alliance has no restrictions on creating strong positions on the eastern flank. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West does not demonstrate readiness to provide Russia with legally binding, long-term security guarantees, in in particular, to refuse further expansion of NATO, including the withdrawal of the «Bucharest formula» that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of the alliance. He noted the need to return the military capabilities, including strike, and NATO infrastructure to the state of 1997, when the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed.
"They (Russians — ed.) made decisions, they took obligations (in the Russia-NATO Founding Act — ed.) not to attack neighbors, which they do, and to consult regularly with NATO, which they do not … So I think that in fact this Founding Act is essentially does not work because of Russia", — told Joané to Agence France Presse.
«Now we have no restrictions to have a strong position on the eastern flank and ensure that every square inch of NATO territory is protected by Article 5 (NATO Charter — ed.) and our allies,» he added. security between Russia and NATO is a political document that fixes the obligations of the parties in the field of the main areas, norms and mechanisms of the relationship between them.Welt: Three disputes flared up in NATO over TurkeyEarlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the new NATO strategy, which the alliance will discuss at the Madrid summit in June, will not consider Russia as a strategic partner. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.