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NATO proposal to re-establish missions in Moscow, Brussels taken into account — MFA

The Russian side has not yet given an answer

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russia has taken into account NATO’s proposal to re-establish its diplomatic mission in Moscow and Russia’s mission in Brussels, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry has not confirmed the words of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the resumption of the missions’ activity. This was a proposal by the Alliance, it explained. "It has been taken into account. The Russian side has not yet given an answer," it specified.

NATO clearly expressed its desire to Russia to restore the alliance’s mission in Moscow and Russia’s diplomatic mission in Brussels, Jens Stoltenberg said at the press conference on Wednesday following the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels.

"We regret that Russia closed the diplomatic mission to NATO and the NATO office in Moscow. But we made it clear at the meeting today that we will actually reopen, re-establish both the NATO office in Moscow and also the Russian mission to NATO because we believe in dialogue," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on October 18 that Russia would suspend its mission to NATO from November, following the military bloc’s decision to withdraw the accreditation of eight Russian diplomats.

Apart from that, Russia suspended the NATO Information Office in Moscow and the NATO Military Liaison Mission Moscow.

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