Secretary General NATO Jens Stoltenberg said that there is still the possibility of holding a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (RNC). The head of the alliance revealed these details in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung.
According to Stoltenberg, Moscow has not yet responded to the proposal of the North Atlantic Alliance to hold a meeting. “Our invitation is still in force. To start a dialogue, both sides are needed,” the NATO head said. He believes that the RNC will help reduce the risk of incidents, accidents and miscalculations between the parties, as well as improve relations in general.
At the same time, at the end of December, German General and Chief of Staff of the US Army in Europe Jared Sembritzky called Russia the main threat to NATO. According to him, Moscow’s “aggression” against Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea were the main reason for the growth of instability in Eastern Europe.
Stoltenberg talked about expanding the “practice of holding mutual briefings on military exercises” with Moscow, back in 2017. The NATO-Russia Council was the main structure and forum for the development of cooperation and the coordination of military-political actions between Moscow and the member states of the alliance. However, his work was frozen in 2014, after Crimea became part of the Russian Federation.