NATO, Russia to hold Council meeting in next two weeks

NATO on Friday said following consultations with Russia, the two sides had agreed to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the ambassadorial level in the next two weeks.

NATO said the meeting would discuss the crisis in and around Ukraine and the need to fully implement the Minsk Agreement. The two sides will discuss military activities, with particular focus on transparency and risk reduction.

Moreover, the two sides will also address the security situation in Afghanistan, including regional terrorist threats, according to NATO.

"This meeting is the continuation of our political dialogue, as agreed by NATO Heads of State and Government. At the same time, there will be no return to business as usual until Russia again respects international law," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.

The statement said that NATO decided to suspend all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 in response to Ukraine crisis.

"This decision stands. At the same time, NATO kept channels of political dialogue and military communication open," it said.

Since the start of the Ukraine crisis, there have been two NATO-Russia Council meetings, which were held respectively in March 2014 and June 2014, and two meetings of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 2014 and in 2015, which included Russia.

The NATO-Russia Council, established at the NATO-Russia Summit in Rome on May 28, 2002, is a forum for consultation between NATO and Russia. Within the Council, NATO allies and Russia work as equals and all decisions in the Council are taken by consensus.

Source: XINHUA