Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. So far this has failed, among other things, due to demands from Russia.
(Photo: dpa)
Brussels / Moscow For the first time in two and a half years, the NATO-Russia Council could meet again in January. A NATO official confirmed in Brussels on Saturday that Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had decided to call a meeting of the format on January 12th. We are in contact with Russia in this regard.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of the proposal, but also said it was still being examined. Format and timing have yet to be clarified. “But we are open to a dialogue,” said spokeswoman Maria Sakharova of the Tass agency.
The NATO official referred to a NATO statement on the tense situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border on December 16. It states, among other things, that any dialogue with Russia must take place on the basis of reciprocity and deal with NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions.
A Russian troop deployment on the Ukrainian border has been causing international concern for weeks. Russia is demanding “security guarantees” from the West, one of which is NATO’s waiver of Ukraine’s accession. NATO has always rejected this demand. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeatedly emphasized the willingness to sit down in the NATO-Russia Council.
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The last discussions in this format so far took place in July 2019. Since then, all attempts to set a date for a meeting have failed. One reason is that Russia actually no longer wants to talk about the Ukraine conflict in this format, which, in turn, eastern NATO states in particular do not want to accept as a condition for new talks.
More: US ready for talks with Moscow in January – no details yet