On November 29, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion titled “Relations Between Russia and NATO: A Grand Finale or To Be Continued?” Alexander Grushko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was among the participants.
Relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance have consistently deteriorated over the past few years. Among the fundamental reasons for this deterioration are the expansion of NATO to the East, the growing imbalance of the potentials of Russia and NATO, the degradation of the arms control regime, and the development of NATO military infrastructure near the borders of Russia.
How likely is the aggravation of relations between Russia and NATO and their transition to an open armed conflict? Could such a conflict be provoked by incidents in the air and at sea? Should we expect the development of a policy of double containment of Russia and China by NATO? Do Russia and NATO have areas of common interest? Is it possible to work on their promotion? Under what conditions will it be possible to resume the work of the Russian mission to NATO? These and other questions were answered by the participants of the discussion.