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NATO leadership refuses to take part in Moscow security conference, says diplomat

At the same time, Maria Zakharova noted that "Stoltenberg does everything to impose a perception upon the public through the mass media that Russia does not react to NATO’s desire to interact"

© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. NATO has rejected Russia’s invitation to the alliance’s leadership to participate in the Moscow conference on international security on June 22-24, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"The Russian side’s invitation to take part in the Moscow conference on international security has been met with a refusal. What can better testify to the true intentions of NATO and its Secretary-General [Jens Stoltenberg]?" the diplomat remarked.

Each statement by Russia that it is ready for interaction immediately evokes a statement by the NATO leadership that seeks to refute Moscow’s position, the spokeswoman pointed out.

"Informationally, Stoltenberg does everything to impose a perception upon the public through the mass media that Russia does not react to NATO’s desire to interact. Everything is being done to make our answer simply sink in this narrative repeated time and again," Zakharova added.

"We are open for a dialogue with the alliance. The convocation of a Russia-NATO Council meeting is needed only if the discussion focuses on the specific issues aimed at easing military tensions. This will undoubtedly require the participation of the military. But we know well that NATO is a military and political bloc, and so there is nothing illogical in that," she said.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Aleksandr Fomin earlier said that Russia’s Defense Ministry had invited the NATO leadership to the Moscow conference on security.

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