EXPLAINER: Moscow’s rocky relationship with NATO alliance

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian military buildup has raised fears in Ukraine and the West that Moscow could invade its neighbor. The tensions over Ukraine come amid a new low in relations between Russia and the NATO military alliance. President Vladimir Putin, who denies planning an attack, is demanding a promise that NATO wouldn’t give membership to Ukraine or deploy its forces there — a pledge that the West says it will not give. Although the ties between Russia and NATO are at a low point now, they once were so warm that Putin even considered having Moscow join the alliance.