“This makes everything more difficult, and the situation is already complicated,” the minister told reporters after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU countries.
His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
According to Maas, Germany in NATO advocated a dialogue with Russia, and "the alliance confirmed its readiness for dialogue."
“We are ready for dialogue, but we must take more into account the fact that Russia, apparently, is not ready.
This decision is more than regrettable, ”the German Foreign Minister said.
In his opinion, Moscow's decision will "prolong the ice age" in Russia's relations with NATO.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the activities of the military liaison mission and the NATO information bureau in Moscow would be suspended.
He also said that Russia is suspending the work of the Russian permanent mission to NATO.
This happened after NATO decided to expel eight members of the Russian mission to the alliance, as well as to reduce two more positions.
As the Secretary General of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg later explained, this was done not because of any specific event, but because of the "growing activity of Russia", against the background of which the alliance should "be vigilant."
Moscow stated that NATO's line towards Russia is becoming more and more aggressive, and the “Russian threat” is being inflated, among other things, with the aim of strengthening the internal unity of the alliance and creating the appearance of its “relevance”.