Insight - Tensions with Russia could prompt NATO strategy rethink

A local resident sits amidst debris at his damaged house, which according to locals was hit by recent shelling, in Donetsk, Ukraine, June 22, 2015. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is preparing for a long standoff with Russia, reluctantly accepting that the Ukraine conflict has fundamentally transformed Europe's security landscape and that it may have to abandon hope of a constructive relationship with Moscow.

Some NATO allies, anxious to avoid a new Cold War or being dragged into an expensive arms race, had hoped the crisis in relations caused by President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region last year would blow over quickly, just as a chill over Russia's 2008 war with Georgia did.