EXPLAINED: What is NATO and why is Russia opposing Ukraine joining the alliance?

Amid soaring tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) last informed that it’s putting in extra forces on standby and deploying more ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe. On the other hand, President Vladimir Putin accused the US and NATO of ignoring Russia's "fundamental concerns" regarding the expansion of NATO near the Ukrainian border.

What is NATO?

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 27 European countries, two North American countries, and one Eurasian country. The organisation implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on April 4, 1949. In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other member countries are: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020).  

According to NATO, it is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO's founding treaty - Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.

Why is Russia against Ukraine joining NATO?

Notably, Ukraine is a former Soviet republic and shares a border with Russia and the European Union. Though Ukraine is not a member of the intergovernmental military alliance, it is a "partner country". According to NATO, if a county is not "an alliance" but "a partner", it means that the country can join the group in the future. It is to be noted that Russia wants Ukraine to never join the alliance and therefore it is now seeking assurance from the Western powers.

On the other hand, the United States -- which is also a member of NATO -- stands in support of Ukraine saying, "it is a sovereign nation and therefore it is the right of Kyiv to decide on its own security alliances." Earlier, there were some reports stating "Ukraine does not want to join the NATO alliance and it was the Western countries which are forcing it to join. However, a spokesman for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed such media reports and asserted that "Ukraine remains committed to its aspirations to join the alliance and the European Union as set out in its constitution." On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "Western powers are using the alliance to surround Russia,'' as reported by BBC. As per the report, President Putin wants NATO to cease its military activities in eastern Europe.

What is the current situation?

On Thursday, Russia started major military drills with close ally Belarus, reported NBC News. The latest action from Russia came despite the Western countries pushing to sort out the issue diplomatically. As per the media reports, at least tens of thousands of troops, weapons systems and other forces are conducting joint exercises near the Ukrainian border. Apart from assembling near the Ukrainian border, Russian warships arrived in the Black Sea for naval drills, a move that Kyiv labelled part of a "hybrid war." Though Moscow claimed that the assembling of troops was only meant for military and naval drills, the western countries raised concerns that Moscow could use them to execute their plan. Irrespective of western claims, Russia asserted that the military and naval drills would not continue after February 20. Reacting to the Russian troops assembling at the border areas of Ukraine, the US officials said that the action from Moscow indicates that they have already made full proof plans to invade Ukraine. According to the NBC sources, in addition to the troop build-up, Moscow has brought in Iskander missiles, a naval presence with land-attack cruise missiles and additional logistical support, including medical.

Image: AP