Founded in 1949 by 12 nations as a safeguard against the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has expanded 11 times, most recently in 2024 when Sweden was accepted into the alliance.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has shaken Europe’s security architecture, prompting longtime NATO partners Finland and Sweden to seek full membership – Finland in 2023, and Sweden in 2024.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after talks with China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Tianjin, says the issue of NATO’s eastward enlargement will have to be addressed for there to be a sustainable peace in Ukraine.
Ukraine, Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are currently on the waiting list to join NATO.
