According to the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, in his interview with “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Moscow violated “the Founding Act between NATO and Russia”, which implies respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, by “having annexed” Crimea.

“One of the basic principles of the Founding Act is the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. Russia doesn’t respect the territorial integrity of Georgia or Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said answering a reporter’s question about whether Russia complies with the mentioned agreement.

He stressed that all actions of NATO in the East were a response to Russia’s “aggressive” behavior. “There can be no doubt in it. Nobody talked about such a military presence in the Eastern part of the Alliance before Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilization of the situation in Ukraine by its military power,” Stoltenberg said

He noted that since 2000 Russia’s military costs had tripled, and it significantly had strengthened its military presence. According to the Secretary General of NATO, more than 100 thousand soldiers are involved in regular military maneuvers of Russia. 

Stoltenberg stressed that, despite this, the Alliance will continue to seek for more constructive cooperation with Moscow in the framework of the Council “Russia-NATO”. According to him, the sides have agreed on a new meeting on the topic of transparency of the relationship and minimization of risks.

On 14 June, Stoltenberg announced plans to deploy four multinational NATO battalions  in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. On the same day the Minister of Defence of Russia, Sergey Shoigu, announced an unxpected inspection of Russian armed forces which should be carried out on behalf of the President Vladimir Putin. NATO reacted on the inspection as “undermining stability”.