NATO is planning a new strategy toward Russia.

According to Politico, NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels next week to begin rethinking the alliance's decades-long strategy regarding Russia.

Specifically, a Politico article published on October 11 stated that, although relations between NATO and Russia hit rock bottom after the Ukraine conflict erupted in February 2022, the "Founding Act" with Moscow remains in effect within the US-led bloc.

Politico writes that the 1997 document, which stated that NATO and Russia shared the common goal of “building a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe,” no longer reflects the current situation.

At the Washington summit in July, NATO called Moscow "the most serious and direct threat to the security of its allies," while Russia continued to assert that NATO's eastward expansion was an "existential threat" to the country.

NATO countries are trying to “outline different elements of strategy toward Russia and promote internal debates within the bloc regarding topics such as the future of the NATO-Russia Founding Act,” a senior U.S. official told Politico. The official added: “It is time to develop a new strategy on specific positions” for member states.

Sources indicate that lower-level discussions on a new policy toward Russia have been underway within NATO for months, and the issue will be addressed at the ministerial level next week. NATO had previously announced that it intends to present a new strategy before the Hague summit, scheduled for next summer.

"Right now, we need a shared understanding across the bloc that the Founding Act and the NATO-Russia Council were designed for a different era, and I think the allies are ready to say that it's a different era in our relationship with Russia, so something new is needed," the US official explained.

The official described the strategy as a "political exercise," adding that its military impact is expected to be "limited."

According to Politico, there is disagreement among NATO members regarding the new policy toward Moscow, as some members fear that an overly aggressive “signal” could “destabilize” Russia. The source added that there are also questions about Hungary and Slovakia, two countries that, despite being NATO members, still consider their alignment with Moscow to have “strategic value.”

Earlier this week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko stated that NATO is no longer concealing the fact that it is preparing for a potential military conflict with Moscow. He asserted that options for fighting Russia are constantly being considered by the alliance, the military budgets of member states are being increased, and Western economies are becoming militarized.

Grushko emphasized that it was not Russia but NATO that chose the "path of confrontation" by refusing dialogue. He added that, for this reason, the US-led bloc bears full responsibility for the "major security crisis in Europe" caused by the Ukraine conflict.