Home › Opinion › What did Russia's NATO mission move signal?
What did Russia's NATO mission move signal?
Summary
A look back at two reports from 18 and 19 October 2021 involving Russia, NATO and the United States.
What was happening in Russia's dealings with the West on 20 October 2021? The two most recent reports before that date pointed to friction on separate fronts.
On 18 October 2021, Russia announced that it would suspend its mission to NATO in Brussels as early as 1 November. Moscow said the step was a response to the expulsion of eight diplomats, accused of espionage, from the mission earlier that month. Russia also said the NATO information bureau and the military liaison in Moscow would be terminated.
On 19 October 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it had raided the Washington, D.C. house of Oleg Deripaska. The Russian oligarch, described as an ally of Vladimir Putin, had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
The reports concerned different institutions and different issues. Taken together, they show that as of 20 October 2021 Russia's diplomatic channel with NATO was due to be cut back, while American law enforcement was acting against a sanctioned Russian businessman on US soil.
