On Tuesday 3 March 2015, the ELN in partnership with the Polish Embassy in London, organized an invitation-only discussion on NATO’s policy towards Russia. The participants assessed the implementation of the 2014 Wales summit decisions on deterrence, reassurance, and relations with Russia, and discussed the main challenges for the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw.

The seminar was opened by H.E. Witold Sobków, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in London. The panel discussion was chaired by ELN Research Director Lukasz Kulesa, and featured Janusz Onyszkiewicz, the former Defence Minister of Poland and Chair of the Executive Council of the Euro-Atlantic Association, Bob Ainsworth MP, the former Secretary of State for Defence, and Tom McKane, former Director General for Strategy and Director General for Security Policy in the UK Ministry of Defence. The participants included politicians, civil servants, representatives of embassies, and think tankers.

The panel discussion and the subsequent questions and answers session focused on the following:

• The challenges for NATO as such, and the UK and Poland specifically, posed by Russia’s actions;
• The decisions taken by the Wales Summit and their implementation, especially with regards to setting up the Spearhead force (VJTF);
• The rationale for possible resumption of the NATO-Russia dialogue on selected topics;
• The sustainability and effectiveness of NATO’s Russian policy in the run-up to the 2016 Warsaw Summit and beyond.

For further details on this event please contact Lukasz Kulesa at [email protected].