NATO-Russia special meeting on Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has scheduled a special meeting of the alliance’s ambassadors with high-ranking Russian officials next week as the two sides seek dialogue to prevent an open conflict over Ukraine, the NATO official said today.

Concerned about Russia’s military deployment along Ukraine’s border, the Western military alliance has been seeking a NATO-Russia Council meeting for months, but the forum appeared to be in jeopardy following an espionage dispute in October. .

The Council meeting, a format used for dialogue since 2002, will take place in Brussels on January 12, following talks between US and Russian security officials on January 10 in Geneva.

Moscow is seeking assurances that NATO will halt its eastward expansion and end military cooperation with Ukraine and Georgia.

“Any dialogue with Russia should proceed on the basis of reciprocity, respond to NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions … and consult with NATO’s European partners,” the NATO official said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Russian officials would attend the NATO summit in Brussels.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and other high-ranking Russian officials are expected to attend the talks in Brussels after meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Geneva.

On January 13, the talks will continue in the broader format of the Geneva-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States and its NATO allies, as well as Russia, the Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

Source: AMPE