According to Reuters, NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia on Tuesday in protest at its annexation of Crimea, and ordered military planners to draft measures to strengthen its defences and provide reassurance to Eastern European countries.
This was confirmed by the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajčák after the first day of a Conference of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels. “The events in Ukraine and around profoundly changed our ideas about what should be the content of the NATO summit in September”, said Lajčák. According to him, NATO must respond to the fundamental changes taking place in Slovakia’s immediate vicinity.
Gavin Shoebridge
