Russia-NATO Council may convene in ‘foreseeable future’

VERONA, October 20. /TASS/. A regular meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the ambassadorial level may take place "in the foreseeable future" when there is a real agenda, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said on Thursday.

"Already two such meetings at the level of ambassadors have been held. Now, depending on the parties’ readiness and the agenda that must be prepared, I do not rule out that a regular session may take place in the foreseeable future," the diplomat said in a talk with Russian journalists.

This format in the Russia-NATO relations remains, the deputy foreign minister said.

"We always agree to holding such a Council meeting, if there is a real agenda, real content, which would be of interest not only for our NATO counterparts but also for Russia," Meshkov said.

A propaganda game is underway on some issues, in particular, on military aircraft flights in the Baltic region with switched-on transponders, the deputy foreign minister said.

"Over all the recent years, our NATO and also North European partners have been actively raising the issue that military aircraft in the Baltic region should fly with the so-called switched-on transponders. When Russia proposed discussing this issue specifically, our counterparts showed confusion and some expressed doubts and began to say that additional briefings were needed. So, they are speaking about such an additional briefing now, although previously they actively raised this theme," Meshkov said.

Moscow has received a certain answer to the proposals made at a Russia-NATO Council meeting in July, he noted.

"It, naturally, does not cover the entire range of issues, which we raised before the NATO side," the Russian deputy foreign minister said.