“Russia-NATO relations will not return to their previous level”
Restoring relations between Russia and NATO to their former level is impossible, but there will be no arms race with the Alliance, - Reserve Lieutenant General Evgeny Buzhinsky, Chairman of the Council of the non-governmental Center for research, education and publishing in the field of international security, told Sputnik.
Earlier, in an interview with RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandr Grushko stated that “NATO itself has rejected a positive agenda in relations with Russia. There are no positive relations. And so far there are no signs that NATO knows how to get out of the deadlock” in relations with Russia.
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| NATO flag (left) and Russian flag. Photo: Unian. |
He added that Russia was not preparing to enter a race with NATO in expanding its military budget but was betting on "economic, precise and effective means".
“Everything is clear about what happened. A political decision was made - to cut off all relations with Russia after 2014. You understand, it is impossible to return everything to where it was, so what else can Russia propose? How to get out of this deadlock? That is what NATO needs to think about,” Buzhinsky said.
"There will be no arms race, but defense capabilities will be maintained at a sufficient and necessary level. I completely agree with Mr. Grushko... Indeed, we do not have any programs now, before we had some programs, some plans, but now there is no such thing," - the expert added.
Russia announced a complete suspension of cooperation with NATO.
Russia and NATO have completely stopped cooperation in civil and military lines - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandr Grushko announced.
