Russia will demand that NATO confirm in legal form that it will not expand eastward.
On February 18, "Russia Today" reported that according to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, citing the Russian embassy in Belgium, Russia will request that NATO confirm through legal means that the organization will not expand eastward.
The report pointed out that Russia also demands that NATO revoke the relevant decisions made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit, when the West had promised that Ukraine and Georgia would have a place in NATO. Currently, NATO maintains active cooperation with countries near Russia, including Azerbaijan and Armenia, while Moldova may abandon its neutral status to seek membership in NATO.
The report stated that since President Trump took office, the United States had delayed NATO's ambitions and said that the previous commitment to admit Ukraine into the alliance was a mistake. It remains unclear whether Russia can successfully change NATO's "open door" policy.
It is understood that NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an international organization established by European and North American countries to achieve defense cooperation. Since 1999, NATO has expanded eastward five times, which has brought about various impacts:
From the security perspective, it has continuously compressed Russia's strategic buffer zone, triggering strong countermeasures from Russia, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict is one of its consequences, leading to heightened tensions in the European region and the collapse of trust between countries. In other words, NATO expansion did not maintain European security but instead brought war.
In terms of international relations, NATO expansion has brought Russia-West relations to a freezing point, intensified great power confrontation, undermined multilateralism, and allowed international rules to be trampled upon, increasing the risk of global conflicts. Now, NATO also has plans to build an Asian version of a "small NATO." If successful, this will further increase the risk of great power confrontation.
Economically, regional economic cooperation has been hindered, trade has been restricted, energy prices have fluctuated, and the investment environment has deteriorated, causing differentiation in Europe's economic development.
In terms of ideology, NATO expansion has strengthened the military confrontation mindset, triggered an arms race, and ignored non-traditional security threats such as terrorism and climate change, making the international security situation increasingly complex and severe. In short, the negative impact of NATO expansion is profound, undermining the international order of peace and stability.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857432667110536/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.