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MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Moscow expects specific answers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization made at a Russia-NATO Council meeting, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"The Russian side proposed a whole number of specific and practical confidence-building measures, including the proposals on warplanes’ flights over the Baltic Sea with switched-on transponders," the spokeswoman said.
"The Russian side also expressed its readiness to continue a detailed discussion of the entire range of military and political issues at the level of military experts," Zakharova said.
"We’re waiting for a specific response from our colleagues, NATO representatives and we hope that this reaction will follow without any special delays," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Moscow did not hear anything new at the July 13 Russia-NATO Council meeting, the spokeswoman said.
"The discussion centered on the decisions of the alliance’s Warsaw summit. In particular, the talk was about the build-up of the alliance’s eastern flank and the consequences of these decisions for European and regional security," Zakharova said.
"We did not hear anything principally new," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
"Mechanism for consultations and bringing approaches closer to each other"
At the same time, Moscow views the Russia-NATO Council as a needed mechanism for consultations on European security, Zakharova said.
"Despite the alliance’s desire to use the Russia-NATO Council and its mechanism for promoting the intra-bloc guidelines, we view it as a needed mechanism for consultations and bringing approaches closer to each other in the interests of strengthening peace and stability on the European continent," the spokeswoman said.
"We’re open for continuing an equitable dialog with the alliance in this and other formats on the entire range of Euro-Atlantic security issues," she noted.
The Russia-NATO Council meeting also discussed the situation in Ukraine with the emphasis on the need to fulfil the Minsk accords on the political settlement in the Donbass region, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
The Russian side pointed to the destructive nature of the alliance’s efforts to strengthen Kiev’s military potential and NATO’s military drills held on the Ukrainian territory, the spokeswoman said.
"The talk on the situation in Afghanistan and regional terrorist threats was held in a somewhat more constructive tone," Zakharova said.
"It was stated that despite the years-long stay of NATO contingents there, the situation in that country continues deteriorating," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.