SULAIMANI (ESTA) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has convened a meeting of the NATO-Russia council for Jan. 12, Reuters cited an official with the military alliance as saying on Tuesday.
“Any dialogue with Russia would have to proceed on the basis of reciprocity, address NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions… and take place in consultation with NATO’s European partners,” the official told Reuters, referring to the crisis in Ukraine.
Russia’s deployment of troops near Ukraine has raised fears in the West that Moscow, which seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and has since backed separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine, may be poised for a new attack.
Russia has denied plans for an assault but says it could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met.
Moscow, worried by what it says is the West’s re-arming of Ukraine, has said it wants legally-binding guarantees NATO will not expand further eastwards, and that certain offensive weapons will not be deployed to Ukraine or other neighboring countries.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that he told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a move on Ukraine will draw sanctions and an increased U.S. presence in Europe.
