The Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with potential involvement of regional states, has been overshadowed by the European refugee crisis in 2016, but remains a challenge to peace and stability in Eastern Europe. On the sidelines of the Dahrendorf Symposium, Alexander Graef, PhD candidate and Research Associate at the University of St. Gallen, sat down with the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, to discuss a realistic politcal roadmap for solving the Ukraine...
The future of missile defense
Although current U.S. plans for the European missile defense do not pose a threat to Russian strategic nuclear forces, the Russian military and political leadership is seriously concerned about the fact, that the development of missile defense systems could at some stage undermine the established strategic balance. Until now, the U.S. and its allies haven’t shown any interest in developing the cooperation with Russia in missile defense, but an opportunity for the dialogue...
... final declaration of the summit, provisions to support the further rapprochement of NATO to Georgia and Ukraine were written.
The new stimuli for the NATO-Russia relations, which are added to the "old" negative factors, are the plans for a European missile defence.
With respect to Tbilisi those were confirmed at the Bucharest NATO summit in 2008 with the obligation of taking Georgia into the alliance. In this regard, completely absurd demands to Moscow have been recorded i.e. to "take ...