... with Colombia joining as a ‘global partner'

Colombia will formally join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a “global partner” next week, becoming the first Latin American country to gain membership of the US-led military alliance.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos made the announcement in a televised speech on Friday, expressing hope that the move could help “improve his country’s image” on the world stage.

"We will formalize in Brussels next week -- and this is very important -- Colombia's entry into NATO in the category of global partner. We will be the only country in Latin America with this privilege," Santos said.

The 66-year-old president hoped that Colombia will now "have much more play" in the global political arena.

NATO is a US-led military alliance encompassing 29 member states, with the latest addition being the small Balkan nation of Montenegro last year.

"Partners across the globe," or simply "global partners," are a category of countries that NATO cooperates with on an individual basis outside of its main frameworks.

In addition to Colombia, the US-led alliance also lists Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan as its global partners.

Colombia and NATO reached a partnership deal in May 2017 following the conclusion of a peace agreement with the former rebel movement FARC, which is now a political party.

NATO member states, largely made up of Western European countries have significantly increased their military presence near Russia’s western borders over the past years.

Relations between Russia and the West have hit rock bottom since the eruption of a conflict in Ukraine in 2014.

Russia has increased its military activity along its western borders and held drills in response to increased NATO deployments in neighboring countries.

Moscow has also deployed missile systems to its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad bordering Poland and Lithuania.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “NATO military buildup provokes new and stirs up old conflicts in the post-Soviet space and in regions neighboring on Russia, with all the ensuing consequences — military and political instability, the growth of smuggling and crime and acute humanitarian problems.”