Lavrov Says Necessary To Convene Russia-NATO Council If US Wants Serious Talks With Russia

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2019) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if the United States wants to have serious talks with Russia, there is a need to convene the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) at the military level.

"There are problems in our dialogue with NATO, because the Americans there have become committed to the trend of convening meetings of the NRC solely in order to lecture us on Ukraine and some other issues, to criticize us for allegedly violating and undermining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. We will not go to such gatherings anymore. If they want to talk seriously, it is necessary to convene the NRC at the military level," Lavrov told the Russian Zvezda tv channel in an interview.

The minister also commented on a statement of outgoing commander of the US European Command Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti about the need of an active dialogue between the Russian and Western military, saying "better late than never." Lavrov also expressed hope that Scaparrotti's successor would take that advice into consideration.