The US Secretary of State John Kerry said after the meeting that NATO has rejected any notion that there is any legality to Russia’s efforts to annex Crimea. The military consultation considered the possibility to boost NATO’s military presence in formerly Communist central and eastern Europe to reassure allies worried by Russia’s moves. An important decision was adopted: NATO will suspend “all practical civilian and military cooperation” with Russia because of its annexation of Crimea, appreciating that no sign that Moscow was withdrawing troops from the Ukrainian border is visible. The political dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council will continue however, “as necessary, at the ambassadorial level and above”. In the actual context, another internal decision was related to fact that the alliance would develop, as a matter of urgency, “a series of additional measures to reinforce NATO’s collective defenses.” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told to the media after conference that Russia’s actions against Ukraine “is the gravest threat to European security in a generation and it challenges our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.”
