MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2021) Russia does not refuse to work with NATO but is reluctant to prioritize Ukraine-related issues on the bilateral agenda, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday, commenting on the alliance's statement that Moscow declined dialogue within the NATO-Russia Council.
Last week, as NATO foreign ministers gathered for a summit in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference that the NATO-Russia Council had not met since the summer of 2019 because Moscow allegedly never "responded positively" to the invitation.
"We do not refuse to work, we just do not want to sit there and listen about Ukraine. NATO has nothing to do with Ukraine, and when they propose to convene the NATO-Russia Council they always insist that the first question on the agenda be Ukraine," Lavrov said at the middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.
NATO, in turn, has "categorically refused to even discuss" the measures for military confidence-building proposed by Russia, such as a negotiated pullback of drills from the line of contact and the coordination of a maximum approach distance for aircraft and ships, according to Lavrov.
"We proposed to restore the military-to-military contacts in order to save the very comprehensive security agreement that was concluded in Helsinki. They refuse," the Russian minister said.
On March 26, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova refuted Stoltenberg's statement, asserting Moscow's openness to "constructive proposals" with regard to convening the NATO-Russia Council.
