Russia and NATO going through total mistrust period — Kremlin spokesman

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Kremlin states that Russia and NATO now have total mistrust in their relations and it will be difficult to overcome it, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday on the eve of the NATO-Russia summit that will be held in Brussels on April 20.

"Russia-NATO relations are undoubtedly going, one would think, through the forgotten, but returned increased deficit of mutual trust and, probably, the triumph of mutual mistrust," Peskov said.

According to the Kremlin official, the Russia-NATO dialogue "will not be an easy one, because confidence is destroyed very quickly, but is restored much slower and this requires considerably greater efforts."

According to him, Moscow has always supported dialogue with NATO. "In this connection I can only express satisfaction that this dialogue will be continued," Peskov added.

The Kremlin has to state once again that the NATO military buildup near Russia’s borders poses a threat to its national security.

"We have recorded very unfriendly actions of the Alliance in terms of its military buildup at our borders, we believe that NATO's actions pose a threat to Russia’s national interests and national security", Peskov said.

"Moreover, we have to state that the recent actions of the Alliance have once again confirmed that NATO has failed to adapt to the modern conditions and retained its original purpose - to deter the Russian Federation and be in confrontation with the Russian Federation", said the Kremlin official.

The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting at the level of ambassadors is scheduled for April 20 in Brussels. NATO froze the entire practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 - after the reunification of Crimea with Russia. At the same time it made a decision to maintain the NRC operation work to keep "the political dialogue channels open".

The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council does not mean that the parties will return to their previous relations, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "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," the NATO chief said.

NATO decided to suspend all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. At the same time, NATO kept channels of political dialogue and military communication open.

The NRC is a forum for consultation between NATO and Russia. Within the NRC, Allies and Russia work as equals and all decisions in the NRC are taken by consensus.