Russian Foreign Ministry sets conditions for easing tensions with NATO
Real progress in de-escalating tensions in relations between Russia and NATO can only be achieved after opening communication channels through military lines, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
In an interview with the International Affairs magazine, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation noted that Russia shares the view on ways to de-escalate tensions, improve tools for preventing dangerous military incidents and not misunderstand each other's intentions.
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“This very topic is at the heart of all meetings of the NATO-Russia Council, which resumed after a two-year pause, introduced by NATO in 2014. However, NATO does not show any serious intention to move in this direction. We can even talk a lot at the ambassadorial level about the need to move towards de-escalation, but real progress can only be achieved when military channels of communication are opened,” Deputy Minister Grushko said.
At the same time, NATO still rejects any systematic military-oriented contacts, he added.
“But, of course, this cannot replace daily military-to-military contact, which is more urgent than ever. So the ball is in NATO's court,” Grushko stressed.
