2021 Russian ultimatum to NATO

Uncommon card · No. 152065

In December 2021, during the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia issued a list of demands widely seen as an ultimatum to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States. In January 2022, NATO refused the main demands, but offered to negotiate others. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Although NATO's eastward enlargement during the 1990s and 2000s had been accepted by Russia at the time, and Russia itself had joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, Russian president Vladimir Putin became concerned with waning Russian influence in former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and the Baltic States, which were aligning themselves with the West economically and politically. Following Ukraine's 2014 revolution, Russia annexed Crimea and started a war in eastern Ukraine. This prompted NATO to end co-operation and to deploy a small tripwire force in the Baltic states and Poland. On 15 December 2021, Russia issued a list of demands in the form of two draft...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Wikimedia users Kwamikagami, Immanuelle, and EmmaCoop. Map derived from BlankMap-World.svg, CC0