AIRLINK 64.69 Increased By ▲ 2.49 (4%)
BOP 6.14 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.44%)
CNERGY 4.99 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DFML 15.05 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.01%)
DGKC 67.00 Decreased By ▼ -1.99 (-2.88%)
FCCL 17.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-2.14%)
FFBL 24.80 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.81%)
FFL 9.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.11%)
GGL 9.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.1%)
HBL 109.33 Increased By ▲ 0.83 (0.76%)
HUBC 117.70 Increased By ▲ 1.20 (1.03%)
HUMNL 6.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.75%)
KEL 4.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.9%)
KOSM 4.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.85%)
MLCF 36.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-2.44%)
OGDC 122.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.00 (-0.81%)
PAEL 22.47 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.13%)
PIAA 23.89 Increased By ▲ 1.67 (7.52%)
PIBTL 5.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.52%)
PPL 110.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.60 (-0.54%)
PRL 27.65 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.29%)
PTC 15.25 Increased By ▲ 1.06 (7.47%)
SEARL 53.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-0.13%)
SNGP 63.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.65 (-1.02%)
SSGC 10.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.45%)
TELE 9.33 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (4.25%)
TPLP 10.75 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.19%)
TRG 71.60 Increased By ▲ 1.30 (1.85%)
UNITY 24.49 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (1.2%)
WTL 1.36 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,739 Increased By 41 (0.61%)
BR30 22,655 Increased By 37 (0.16%)
KSE100 65,314 Increased By 423.6 (0.65%)
KSE30 21,669 Increased By 133.4 (0.62%)

MOSCOW: Russia said Monday it was suspending its mission to NATO and closing the alliance's offices in Moscow, as relations with the Western military bloc plunged to new depths.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the moves after NATO expelled several members of Moscow's delegation to the alliance for alleged spying.

"Following certain measures taken by NATO, the basic conditions for common work no longer exist," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.

He said Moscow was suspending the work of its official mission to NATO in Brussels, including its military representative, from around November 1.

Russia was also shutting down the alliance's liaison mission in the Belgian embassy in Moscow, set up in 2002, and the NATO information office set up in 2001 to improve understanding between NATO and Russia.

"NATO has already greatly reduced its contacts with our mission," Lavrov said, saying the alliance is "not interested in dialogue and work as equals".

NATO chief warns of 'new dangers' from Russia-China ties

"We see no reason to pretend that any change is possible in the foreseeable future," he said.

Lavrov said that in case of urgent matters NATO could liaise via the Russian ambassador in Belgium.

The moves cut off years of efforts to improve ties between Moscow and NATO that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

They come after NATO earlier this month stripped eight members of Moscow's mission to the alliance of their accreditation, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calling them "undeclared Russian intelligence officers".

"We have seen an increase in Russian malign activities, at least in Europe and therefore we need to act," Stoltenberg said at the time, describing the relationship between NATO and Russia as "at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War".

Russia had an observer mission to NATO as part of a two-decade-old NATO-Russia Council meant to promote cooperation in common security areas. The Russian mission has been downsized before, when seven of its members were ejected after the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a Russian former double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Britain.

Meetings of a NATO-Russia council have not been held since 2019 against the backdrop of the heightened tensions.

Comments

Comments are closed.