What is NATO's Article 5 and how does it protect allies during Russia-Ukraine war?

Russia's criticism of NATO-- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization predates the Ukrainian war and it has only increased since the organisation has been expanding its footprints towards the country's eastern territories. The rhetoric of Ukraine joining the military and the political alliance of 28 European countries and two North American countries have been further escalated to new heights ever since the incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took charge of the Presidency in May 2019.

Before the announcement of a full-scale war in February this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had reiterated his demand of the Ukrainian government to abandon its plan of joining the military alliance bloc and pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. According to the theory presented by Russia, it says that the United States and NATO have continually violated pledges allegedly made in the early 1990s that the union would not expand into the former Soviet bloc-- a claim that NATO denied multiple times.

Despite holding a number of diplomatic talks with Ukraine, US and NATO officials, Moscow, on February 24 ordered its forces to invade its neighbouring country, Ukraine. Since then, the US and NATO have warned Putin to face dire consequences if he tries to move his forces near NATO allies. Amid continuous threats from Putin, NATO is now mulling to invoke its mutual self-defence clause -- what's known as Article 5 of the NATO treaty. According to NATO, Article 5 remains a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the alliance.

What is Article 5?

• Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.
• The principle of collective defence is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
• NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
• NATO has taken collective defence measures on several occasions, including in response to the situation in Syria and the Russian attack on Ukraine.
• NATO has standing forces on active duty that contribute to the Alliance’s collective defence efforts on a permanent basis.

When did NATO invoke Article 5 for the first time?

The United States had witnessed one of the brutal terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. This led NATO to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty for the very first time in its history. On the evening of 12 September 2001, less than 24 hours after the attacks, the Allies invoked the principle of Article 5. By invoking this, NATO members showed their solidarity toward the United States and condemned, in the strongest possible way, the terrorist attacks against the United States. Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the rise of security challenges from the south, including brutal attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other terrorist groups across several continents, the military alliance claimed it has implemented the biggest increase in collective defence since the Cold War. That is the main reason why Putin fears the bloc might become a "possible threat" for Kremlin.

Image: AP