Despite efforts to structure forums that promote cooperation between Russia and NATO, relations as of have become severely strained over time due to post-Soviet conflicts and territory disputes involving Russia having broken out, many of which are still ongoing, including:. They deteriorated even further in , when on 1 April , NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operation as a response to the Russian annexation of Crimea.
President George H. Bush , U. The West German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, in a meeting on February 6, , suggested the alliance should issue a public statement saying that, "NATO does not intend to expand its territory to the East. He also said, "The decision for the U. I called this a big mistake from the very beginning. It was definitely a violation of the spirit of the statements and assurances made to us in Bush and specifically read him Article 6 of the Agreement. I want to read the 6th Article of the Agreement.
As a matter of fact Shaposhnikov fully agreed and supported our position. I am now reading Article 6. President and I urge the interpreter to translate this precisely. This is extremely, extremely important. Because of the tradition between us, I couldn't even wait ten minutes to call you. We regard this relationship as serious and wish to develop this dialog on all fronts, both on the political and military levels.
Today we raise the issue of Russia's membership in NATO, however, we see this as a long-term political goal. Formal contacts and cooperation between the newly founded Russian Federation and NATO began following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in , within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council later renamed Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council , and were further deepened as Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program on 22 June Then the others from Central and Eastern Europe can come in.
There should be a kind of cartel of the U. Russia firsts needs to start thinking about reactions in other areas. There is a potential Chinese reaction. As a result, without cooperation between the two of us it is hard to envisage continuation of a peaceful and stable world. If we continue to work together as you suggest, we can do much to ensure peace and stability for Europe and for the rest of the world. Yeltsin adopted opposition to NATO expansion as official policy in In the same year, the Budapest Memorandum was signed where Russia , the United Kingdom and the United States made security assurances to Belarus , Kazakhstan and Ukraine , in return for handing over by these three countries of their post-Soviet nuclear arsenal.
