Ukraine–NATO relations

Russia accused the United States on April 21 of intimidation by sailing a U.S. naval destroyer close to Russia's border in the Baltics and warned that the Russian military would respond with "all necessary measures" to any future incidents. 

The NATO-Russia Council will meet in the next two weeks for the first time since 2014 to duscuss the Ukraine crisis.

"Following consultations with Russia, we have agreed to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at Ambassadorial level," NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said in a statement on Friday.

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg confirmed Jan. 28 that the alliance is discussing whether to hold its first formal talks with Russia since 2014 when the Ukraine crisis plunged relations into a deep freeze.

There is great overlap between NATO's and EU's interests and values, the 3rd Belgrade NATO Week heard on Tuesday.

For that reason, the conference's participants asserted, "a country's membership in NATO can represent good preparation for its accession to the EU."

Russia will have to react to NATO's invitation to Montenegro to join the Alliance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

NATO allies plan to send patrol aircraft and missiles to strengthen Ankara's air defenses on its border with Syria, officials said Dec. 1, while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was working on new support measures for Turkey. 

The foreign ministers of NATO member countries will convene at a two-day meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss current security issues and challenges.

The main issues on the agenda are Afghanistan, challenges from the south, relations with Russia, support to Ukraine and Montenegro's bid to join NATO.

NATO and its allies will open their biggest military exercise in more than a decade on Oct. 19 in a show of strength in the central Mediterranean that takes place as Russia seeks to reassert itself across the water in the Levant. 

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Bulgaria's NATO membership is not an obstacle to the country's relations with Russia and does not pose a threat to Moscow.

The former Prime Minister of Norway pointed to the development of his country's relations with Russia in an interview for Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on Friday.

Following the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission on Thursday, the Alliance reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and revealed plans for holding joint exercises with its partner country.

NATO Defence Ministers and their Ukrainian counterpart Stepan Poltorak discussed the security situation in the country and reviewed the assistance provided by the Alliance.