MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Russia is ready for a constructive and equitable dialogue with NATO, if the alliance does not resort to employing the tone of a mentor, attempting to impose its position, Head of the Defense Committee in the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) Andrei Kartapolov said on Monday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier stated that the alliance’s proposal to hold a Russia-NATO Council meeting on security remained in force. The NATO chief stressed, however, that the alliance was not going to cut its military presence in the region bordering on Russia.
"Beyond any doubt, despite some of our serious concerns over certain actions of our Western partners, we are ready for a constructive and, let me emphasize it, an equitable dialogue. We have spoken about that on many occasions. But only if they do not talk to us like a mentor or in a teaching tone, trying to impose their position. Russia is an independent state and no pressure must be exerted on us as this approach will not lead to anything good," the senior lawmaker said.
As the head of the State Duma Defense Committee pointed out, Stoltenberg claims that the North Atlantic alliance is willing to hold a Russia-NATO Council security meeting but "simultaneously indicates that NATO has no intention of cutting its military presence in the region adjacent to the Russian borders."
"In this case, of course, the essence of a dialogue itself is lost. Moreover, whom have they decided to defend Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Estonia against? "Against which threat, maybe against Ukrainian labor migrants? Time and again, the West is trying to justify its actions under the guise of non-existent threats and challenges," the senior Russian lawmaker stressed.