DISINFO: Suspension of the Russian mission to NATO is a result of the Cold War policy of the West
SUMMARY
The suspension of the Russian mission to NATO by Moscow is only a result of the long-lasting Cold War policy of the West. The North Atlantic Treaty would like to keep the appearance of good intentions, but the Kremlin does not intend to allow it. The recognition of the Russian mission to NATO as “potential spies” and its expulsion is not only unjustified but also simply hostile.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, portraying NATO as a threat to global peace and an aggressive anti-Russian organisation. The pro-Kremlin media repeatedly promote the narrative that the West wants to return to the Cold War policies in relations with Russia.
On 7 October 2021, NATO expelled eight Russian functionaries working in the Russian mission to this organisation – these people are accused of spying. On 18 October 2021, Moscow decided to suspend the work of its mission in NATO. This situation is not a result of any alleged anti-Russian “Cold War” policies but the direct involvement of the Russian diplomats in espionage.
Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has introduced sweeping changes to its membership and working practices – changes made clear by its adoption of new Strategic Concepts in 1999 and 2010. Accusations that NATO has retained its Cold War purpose ignore the reality of those changes.
Over the same period, NATO reached out to Russia with a series of partnership initiatives, culminating in the foundation of the NATO-Russia Council in 2002. No other country outside the Alliance has such a privileged relationship with NATO. As reaffirmed by NATO leaders at the Brussels Summit in July 2018, “NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia.”
Read similar disinfo cases alleging that the idea that Russia is a threat to Europe exists only in the minds of Cold War nostalgics and that NATO is an ineffective relic of the Cold War.