Russia will demand legally binding guarantees that NATO halts its eastward expansion and reverses the 2008 Bucharest Summit decision, which opened the door for Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance. The Russian embassy in Belgium stated that verbal promises made in the past regarding non-expansion were ignored, and documentary evidence of these assurances exists in NATO countries’ archives but remains unpublished. Moscow argues that NATO’s enlargement increases tension in Europe by reducing the strategic deployment time for alliance forces.

Russia also points to the 2008 summit decision as a factor that encouraged Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia. Previous Russian proposals for a legally binding European security treaty, which would enshrine indivisible security, were rejected by the West. Moscow has also cited historical pledges from Western leaders to the Soviet Union regarding NATO’s non-expansion as evidence of broken commitments.

Janus Press