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Russian, NATO military chiefs discuss the situation in Ukraine by telephone

MOSCOW, March 13, /ITAR-TASS/. The military chiefs of Russia and NATO discussed the situation in Ukraine by telephone on Thursday, the Russian Defence Ministry’s press service said.

General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s first deputy defence minister and chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, and General Knud Bartels, chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, discussed the state of Russia-NATO relations and the current situation in Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of 28 NATO member states are reviewing agenda items for their Brussels meeting on April 1-2, according to the military bloc’s press service.

This follows NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s March 5 announcement that the foreign ministers would completely re-evaluate the alliance’s relations with Russia in view of events in Ukraine.

NATO has already frozen almost all military cooperation with Russia, interrupting all technical talks with the Russian side, except for ambassador-level meetings of the Russia-NATO Council.

NATO demands that Russia immediately reduce tension in Ukraine and return all Russian troops to barracks.

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