Russia–NATO relations

Russia launched a massive air attack over Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 30 people and wounding scores across the country in the fiercest assault since the first days of the war nearly two years ago.

Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in the barrage, said Ukrainian officials.

The Ministries of Defense does not believe that the war in Ukraine can be transferred to NATO territories.

This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov in a comment on the published reports on the security of the State Agency for National Security" (SANS), the State Intelligence Agency (SIA) and the military intelligence.

Day 478 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

"Our government will continue to provide valuable practical support to Ukraine as long as it is needed." This was stated by Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev during the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission yesterday, June 15. According to him, NATO should go beyond the Bucharest decisions and promote relations with Ukraine at a higher strategic level.

However, ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, which begins on July 11, where confronting Russia will be high on the agenda, Sir Richard Shirreff, the former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said NATO was not ready for war with Moscow.

NATO will begin the largest air force deployment exercise in Europe in the alliance's history on Monday in a display of unity toward partners and potential threats such as Russia.

The German-led "Air Defender 23" will run until June 23 and include some 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries including Japan and Sweden, which is bidding to join the alliance.

NATO will deploy 700 more troops to Kosovo, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today, a day after 30 NATO soldiers and 52 protesters were injured in clashes, Reuters reported.

As they stated, those plans will be decided at the summit in Vilnius in July.
The goal is better preparedness of the Alliance for an attack and improved logistics.
For the first time since the Cold War, plans are being updated on how to respond in the event of a Russian attack.

This move represents a major change in the North Atlantic Alliance since it hasn't made major defense plans for a long time - in the recent past it participated in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in the bombing of FR Yugoslavia, but it did not consider post-Soviet Russia an existential threat.

Russia's top diplomat warned Tuesday that the European Union "is becoming militarized at a record rate" and aggressive in its goal of containing Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now "very little difference" between the EU and NATO.