NEW YORK, May 15. /TASS/. The United States has proposed reviving security talks under the NATO-Russia Council as part of work toward resolving the Ukraine conflict, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance established relations in the early 1990s, and in 1997, they signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security as they agreed to establish a mechanism for talks. In 2002, the NATO-Russia Council was founded.
Until 2014, Russia and NATO worked together to fight terrorism, drug trafficking and piracy. The alliance froze this cooperation following the events in Ukraine. Dialogue between Russia and NATO was officially suspended in 2021, with Russia putting the work of its permanent mission to the alliance in Brussels on a pause and closing NATO-associated offices in Moscow.
On December 15, 2021, Russia put forward an initiative to sign a security guarantee agreement with the bloc. In it, Moscow suggested that NATO not view Russia as an adversary, exercise restraint in holding military exercises in border areas, refrain from military activity in Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and guarantee that it would not expand eastwards. These proposals were flatly rejected. Since the start of the special military operation, the alliance has increased its military presence in the eastern flank, and expanded the scope of drills, with NATO allies providing colossal military aid to Ukraine.