”Among the priority issues, which the Russian side plans to raise today, is predictability of military action, reducing the risks of escalation as a result of accidental military incidents, as well as regional matters. We will also raise the issue of building up NATO`s military presence and training activities along Russian borders,” she said.
Zakharova recalled that three NRC meetings were held in 2016, after a two-year break.
She said the resumption of NRC activity had special significance in the current conditions of ”increased military and political tensions.”
According to Zakharova, Moscow advocates that the council`s interactive mechanism be used on a regular basis to discuss pressing issues.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the situation in Ukraine would be also discussed at the NATO-Russia Council March 30.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the discussion of Ukrainian issue within the NRC framework ”the continuation of a paranoid aggressive policy.”
”Each time our colleagues from the Alliance tell us `Yes, we will meet at the NATO-Russia Council, but we will only discuss Ukraine,` this is the continuation of such a paranoid and aggressive policy. NATO has nothing to do with the efforts on the Ukrainian settlement. If the essence of these ideas is to use the NATO-Russia Council for another confrontation, we do not want to play such games,” Lavrov said.
