MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2018) An ambassador-level meeting of the NATO-Russia Council will be held on Wednesday in Brussels.
The date of the meeting was announced on Friday by a NATO official, who said that the meeting would be a part of "NATO's twin-track approach of strong defense and meaningful dialogue with Russia."
The parties are expected to discuss problems related to military security, preventing dangerous incidents with the aim of decreasing military and political tensions, as well as urgent issues regarding European security.
On Monday, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for European Cooperation Andrey Kelin said that the NATO-Russia Council would also likely discuss the US intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty).
On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Moscow would seek to expand its military contacts within the NATO-Russia Council. Grushko added that mechanisms for avoiding military incidents were needed.
The NATO-Russia Council was established at the Russia-NATO Summit in Rome on May 28, 2002 by the "Declaration on NATO-Russia Relations: a New Quality."
The Council's meetings were suspended by the alliance in April 2014 over the situation in Ukraine but the format was revived in 2016. The latest NATO-Russia Council was held in late May at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
