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ExplainerWhat is Nato? Alliance in spotlight in Ukraine-Russia crisis

  • Nato was established in 1949 for collective defence against the Soviet Union
  • Russia is trying to keep Ukraine from joining the 30-member Nato alliance

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02:27
Amid Russian troop build-up in Belarus, Ukrainian soldiers doubt good result in Kremlin-US talks
Tribune News Service

The threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted Nato forces to mobilise across Europe, evoking for many the military alliance’s first reasons for being.

Ukraine, a post-Soviet state, has drifted in recent years toward the West. In 2008, Nato said it would eventually accept the eastern European country into the alliance, a promise Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced at the time and has worked against since.

Russia now demands that Ukraine never be allowed to join the alliance and that the United States largely withdraw from Europe. It’s the most significant challenge to the military alliance’s power since the end of the Cold War.

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On Monday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance will continue to take steps “to protect and defend all allies”.

At issue in the conflict is a debate over the identity and expansiveness of the military alliance, as well as the broader structure of European security.

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Here’s what to know about Nato and what the alliance means in the current conflict:

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