ANKARA, July 12. /TASS/. The special attention given to Russia in NATO’s final declaration is an attempt by the Biden administration to guarantee continued support for Ukraine if power changes hands in the White House, Turkish political scientist Hasan Selim Ozertem told TASS.

"In this declaration, the emphasis on Russia is stronger than before. I think that there are two reasons. As you know, NATO made a decision to provide $40 bln in military aid to Ukraine. This was given a special place in the declaration so that the governments of the alliance’s countries could justify such actions to their electorates, explaining this away by the threat from Russia. The second reason is that the election is coming up in the US and the Biden administration is trying to keep this issue on the front burner of NATO’s agenda. Even if power changes hands in the US, the guarantees of supporting Ukraine on the alliance’s institutional level will remain," the expert noted.

He stressed that, even though the declaration mentions threats from other countries, such as Iran, China and North Korea, "the Russia threat is given special attention."

"One should not expect NATO-Russia relations to smooth over. Even though the alliance leaves the door open to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine, the West’s current moves show that they are not seriously considering this. Yet in fact, efforts continue to provide political and economic support for Ukraine, to increase its potential in order to prolong the conflict," the expert stated.