The North Atlantic Alliance is awaiting a response from Moscow on the proposal to hold a meeting on security issues of the Russia-NATO Council, said Secretary General of the bloc Jens Stoltenberg during his visit to Lithuania.

“NATO's dual approach in relations with Russia (defense and dialogue) remains unchanged.

18 months ago, the alliance proposed to hold the NATO-Russia Council meeting again.

This proposal is valid, the choice is for Russia, ”he said.

He also called on Moscow to increase transparency in its actions and reduce tensions.

At the same time, Stoltenberg announced NATO's intention to continue the course of "containment and defense", recalling the combined battalions of the alliance deployed in the Baltic countries and Poland.

They were deployed in 2017 in accordance with the decision taken at the NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016.

Their total number is 4,000 servicemen from 15 countries of the bloc.

The battalion in Latvia is led by Canada, in Lithuania - by Germany, in Estonia - by Great Britain, in Poland - by the United States.

At the same time, as Stoltenberg noted during his visit to Vilnius, Russia should not regard the actions of the alliance as a threat.

“Our support for partners is not a threat to Russia.

This is help to protect them from aggression, ”the Secretary General said.

However, he did not specify who could become the source of unfriendly actions.

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

  • Reuters

  • © John Thys

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, in turn, came up with more specific formulations.

According to him, the threat to NATO members is the military integration of Belarus and Russia.

“The process of full integration of Belarus into the military structures and doctrines of Russia causes concern.

This is a new challenge to the collective security of NATO, ”TASS quotes the Lithuanian leader.

In this regard, the President stated the need to make appropriate adjustments to NATO's plans, strategy and tactics "to prepare for a proper response to these challenges."

He also noted that, if necessary, Vilnius is ready to initiate the entry into force of the 4th article of the North Atlantic Treaty.

It presupposes the convening of consultations of all NATO member states in case one of them believes that its security, territorial integrity, political independence or security will be threatened.

"Let's discuss Ukraine"

Russia has previously stated that they have no information about NATO's intentions to establish a dialogue with Moscow.

As noted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the current actions of the bloc only indicate that they do not want any interaction with Russia.

“She (NATO. -

RT

) wanted, when we still had representatives there and the Russia-NATO Council was working, only to teach us life, demanding every time:“ Let's gather the Russia-NATO Council and discuss Ukraine. ”

That was their whole interest in whipping up propaganda and putting pressure on the Russian Federation.

That's it, the question is closed, ”the diplomat explained at the end of October following the summit of the G20 countries.

He also noted that if there are reasons to turn to Moscow in the alliance, this can be done through the ambassador to Belgium.

  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

  • globallookpress.com

  • © MFA of Russia

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also emphasized that all NATO's assurances of readiness to conduct a dialogue are meaningless after the leadership of the bloc ordered to expel a number of Russian diplomats from the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the organization.

“Everything that we now hear through not just NATO as a bloc, but also directly from the Secretary General of this structure, simply cannot be taken seriously ... But in principle, it seems to me that there is no sense in them (statements -

RT

): expel Russian diplomats and, at the same time, talk about the desire to talk with Moscow.

So these diplomats were accredited, in fact, with NATO in order to conduct a dialogue at such a working level, ”Zakharova said at a briefing on October 21.

According to her, because of the current policy of the North Atlantic Alliance, relations between it and Russia are at a level even lower than "in the most severe times of the Cold War."

In addition, as the diplomat emphasized, it was the bloc's unwillingness to jointly seek ways to de-escalation that actually buried the Russia-NATO Council.

Recall that on October 6, NATO demanded that Russia reduce the number of employees of the permanent mission to ten people, and also revoked the accreditation of eight diplomats, notifying them of the need to leave Brussels.

As explained by Jens Stoltenberg, this decision was made in connection with the alleged increase in the "hostile activities" of Russia and the actions of its representatives to NATO, which do not correspond to their diplomatic accreditation.

In response, Russia announced the suspension of the work of its permanent mission to the alliance, including the work of the chief military representative.

In addition, the activities of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow were terminated and the accreditation of its employees was revoked, as well as the information office of the bloc established at the Belgian embassy was closed.

"In search of identity"

Experts agree that NATO's current course towards Russia is largely the same as that pursued during the Cold War, and even the methods have remained the same.

“Recently, the alliance has taken a number of actions that have actually cast doubt on the fundamental act of cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation.

Military exercises are regularly held near the borders of Russia, and they are covered with an alleged threat from Moscow, "military expert Yuri Knutov said in a conversation with RT.

He recalled that before committing an act of aggression, representatives of both the alliance and the Western community as a whole had been promoting anti-Russian hysteria, creating an appropriate atmosphere.

Moreover, Moscow has never given reasons and grounds for such campaigns, the analyst said.

However, as Sergey Ermakov, an expert at the RISS Research Coordination Center, noted in an interview with RT, all the responsibility for the escalation of the situation still fell on Russia.

According to him, the alliance remembers about the dialogue only when it needs something from the Russian Federation.

“And NATO is recalling this on the eve of some significant events.

Right now, a meeting of the Normandy format countries at the Foreign Ministry level on the Ukrainian issue is being discussed, and therefore there are calls for Russia to sit down at the negotiating table and conduct constructive negotiations, including with NATO, ”explained Ermakov.

At the same time, he stressed that within the framework of the same Russia-NATO Council, as a rule, there is no constructive conversation, since the alliance is fixated only on its own interests.

“Moreover, the aggravation of relations with Russia is also connected with the fact that NATO is still in search of its identity, that is, in essence, justification of its existence.

After all, initially it was created as a force opposing the Soviet Union, but now the realities have changed, ”says Ermakov.

At the same time, he believes that the members of the alliance are unlikely to act as a united front solely for opposing Russia. 

“Some NATO members fear that further“ deterrent ”policy may further undermine international and regional stability, which will negatively affect the security of individual countries - members of the alliance.

Here we are talking about various unintentional incidents, which were avoided earlier, as there were constant consultations between the Russian and NATO military, ”added Ermakov.

  • Meeting room at NATO headquarters

  • AFP

  • © THIERRY CHARLIER

In this regard, according to Yuri Knutov, it is necessary to restore a dialogue that would help to defuse tension and coordinate actions when it comes to military exercises.

“There are many problems, but the current NATO leadership is not willing to discuss them yet, getting off with only loud statements and expecting that Russia will persuade the bloc to cooperate with it,” he notes.

However, as Sergei Ermakov adds, Moscow is unlikely to tolerate disregard for its interests, although it expresses its readiness to renew contacts if NATO discusses something other than Ukraine.

“It all depends on Western strategy and political will.

If there is a real proposal for a constructive dialogue, backed up by practical actions, then Moscow will support this.

And the dialogue is just for show - it is uninteresting and unproductive, ”concluded Ermakov.