A group of experts from Europe, Russia, and the United States held some 20 online seminars on NATO–Russia risk reduction in the summer and autumn of 2020 and offered several ideas in a document that was signed by 166 distinguished Americans, Europeans, and Russians.  Within the document it was suggested that “As part of the NATO 2030 reflection process, Russia and NATO member states should analyse relations between NATO and Russia with a view to developing the military-to-military dialogue”.

Ahead of the NATO and Biden-Putin Summits, the European Leadership Network (ELN) and Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) convened forty senior military and civilian experts from Russia and NATO countries to progress the discussion on NATO/Russia military-to-military dialogue. They considered: “How could senior NATO-Russia military-to-military dialogue produce practical and pragmatic measures to increase predictability and reduce the risk of military incidents at sea, in the air and on land escalating to the level of military conflict?”

The output of the round table can broadly be grouped into three areas: Exploring the risk, Proposing pragmatic ways ahead, and Priority areas to be addressed.

Read the full report here

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the signatories and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELN’s aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time.

Image: Flickr, NATO