Turkey urges Russia to drop ‘one-sided’ NATO Demands

In News

  • Turkey urged Russia to drop “one-sided” demands and adopt a more constructive approach in its stand-off with Western powers and NATO over Ukraine.

About

  • Turkey: A NATO member has maintained close ties with Russia and Ukraine, missing no opportunity to play both sides of the West’s rivalry with Russia.
  • Combat drones: Turkey is creating problems for Russia by supplying combat drones to Ukraine that Russia fears could be used by Ukraine in its conflict with separatists in two eastern regions.
  • Advanced missile defence system: Turkey has also upset Washington and NATO by acquiring an advanced missile defence system from Russia that resulted in sanctions from the United States.

Russia’s stand

  • No new membership: NATO must not allow any new members to the U.S.-led military alliance and called for no new military bases to be established in ex-Soviet countries.
  • Tense moment: The publication of the draft agreements, an unusual step in international diplomacy, comes at a tense moment in Russia’s ties with the West.
  • Legal guarantees: Russia blames NATO for the rise in tensions, demanding “legal guarantees” the alliance won’t expand eastwards.
  • Limits on the deployment of missiles: It called for limits on the deployment of missiles and said that NATO members should “commit themselves to refrain from further enlargement” of the group.
  • Binding security guarantee: Russia wants NATO to provide Moscow with a binding security guarantee and withdraw its forces to positions they held before a wave of eastward expansion that began after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

West’s stand

  • Troops: The West has accused Russia of preparing an imminent invasion, claiming Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine’s borders.
  • Negotiation: The U.S. pushed back at the Russian proposals, saying it would not negotiate without Europe’s input.

Reasons of the Issue

Latest:

  • Intelligence Reports say Russia has moved 70,000 troops to its border with Ukraine and is preparing for a possible invasion early next year.
  • Moscow denies any intention to attack and accuses Ukraine of planning an offensive to reclaim control of rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

Background:

  • Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine began after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
  • It has killed over 14,000 people and devastated Ukraine’s industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.

Way Ahead

  • Alliance: Russia and the alliance should work to “prevent incidents” in the Baltics and the Black Sea region
  • A telephone hotline: should be established for “emergency contacts”.
  • International cooperation is needed: to solve the ever-increasing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Restrain from any wrong move: Both the countries should restrain from any move leading to escalation of the tension.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949

  • Established in: 1949
  • Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
  • India is not a member country of NATO.
  • It is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 countries across the world including the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
  • Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999, followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In the following years, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia also became members, bringing NATO membership to 30 nations.

Source: TH

 
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