NATO is no longer obliged by previous agreements to refrain from sending forces in eastern Europe, according to the alliance’s deputy secretary general on Sunday.

By assault Ukraine and suspending communication with NATO, Moscow has “voided any content” in the NATO-Russia Founding Act, Mircea Geoana told AFP.

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“They took decisions, they made obligations there not to aggress neighbors, which they are doing, and to have regular consultations with NATO, which they don’t,”  Geoana said in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.

“So I think that in fact this founding act is basically not functioning because of Russia,” he continued.

He said that Russia had basically abandoned the provisions of the 1997 accord.

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Article 5 of NATO’s treaty on collective defence states that an assault on one member constitutes an attack on all members.

Geoana did not provide specifics on any planned deployment, but stated that he expects “a robust, flexible, and sustainable presence.”

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