A meeting of the Russian Council - NATO was held in Brussels

Russia and NATO have serious disagreements regarding the conflict in Ukraine, but the parties should continue the dialogue. Such a statement was made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference following a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels.

According to Stoltenberg, the bulk of the disagreement concerns the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the role of Russia in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Earlier, the Secretary General said that Russia "must withdraw thousands of its military" from the territory of Ukraine and stop supporting separatists in the Donbass. The Kremlin in response again categorically rejected its involvement in the conflict.

Stoltenberg emphasized that the North Atlantic Union does not see threats from Russia in connection with the upcoming “West-2017” exercises in September. However, NATO believes that the exercises will take part more forces than officially stated.

Stoltenberg also noted that Russia and NATO are interested in supporting stability in Afghanistan.