Russia–NATO relations

Relations between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation were established in 1991 within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Russia–NATO co-operation grew during the 1990s and early 2000s. Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994. The NATO–Russia Founding Act was signed in 1997, creating the NATO–Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC) through which they consulted each other and worked together on security issues. This was replaced in 2002 by the NATO–Russia Council. During this period, there were suggestions of Russia becoming a NATO member. However, relations have become hostile, largely due to Russia's attacks on Ukraine since 2014.

Relations took a downturn during the 2nd term of Russian president Vladimir Putin, following the 2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. In his 2007 Munich speech, Putin condemned the eastern enlargement of NATO, and in 2008 Russia invaded Georgia. Relations worsened in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine, starting the War in Donbas. NATO responded by suspending co-operation, and many member states imposed sanctions on Russia. To deter further Russian aggression, a small NATO tripwire force was deployed in the Baltic states and Poland, at the request of those countries. Some political analysts see this as the beginning of a Second Cold War. Over the following years there was a rise in military incidents, while Russia repeatedly probed NATO defenses and carried out covert assassinations in NATO countries. A few NATO members began helping Ukraine's military of their own accord.

In 2021, Russia massed troops on Ukraine's borders. That October, NATO expelled eight Russian officials from its headquarters for alleged spying; in retaliation, Russia suspended its mission to NATO and ordered the closure of the NATO office in Moscow. Putin falsely claimed that NATO was building up its military infrastructure in Ukraine and would attack Russia. That December, Russia issued far-reaching demands to NATO. The alliance rejected some but offered to negotiate others if Russia stopped its military buildup. Some Western analysts suggested Putin was using NATO as an excuse for Russian expansionism. In December 2021, Russia attempted to halt NATO enlargement prior to its invasion of Ukraine, but failed.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, starting the largest war in Europe since World War II and causing a breakdown of NATO-Russia relations. At the 2022 NATO summit, the alliance declared Russia "a direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security" and announced it was bolstering its defenses on its eastern borders. Many NATO member states imposed further sanctions on Russia and sent military aid to Ukraine to help it resist the invasion. Although Russian officials and propagandists claim that NATO is waging a "proxy war" against them, NATO maintains that its focus is on helping Ukraine and the alliance defend itself, not on fighting Russia.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, tensions have escalated into Russian hybrid warfare against NATO member states, which includes sabotage, assassination plots, airspace violations, cyberattacks, and disinformation aimed at destabilizing the alliance and disrupting aid to Ukraine.