BRUSSELS, December 26. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has come out with an initiative to call a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12, 2022 when a NATO Military Committee will meet in Brussels, the alliance’s press service told TASS on Sunday.
"The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on 12 January 2022 in his capacity as the Chair of the NATO-Russia Council. We are in contact with Russia as regards the meeting," the press service said.
"As the North Atlantic Council made clear in its December 16 statement on the situation in and around Ukraine, "any dialogue with Russia would have to proceed on the basis of reciprocity, address NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions, be based on the core principles and foundational documents of European security, and take place in consultation with NATO’s European Partners," it said.
It was announced earlier that the NATO Military Council will meet in Brussels on January 12-13, 2022.
Moscow has received NATO’s proposal to call a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12, 2022 and is considering it, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry told TASS.
"We have already received this proposal. We are considering it," the spokesman said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS earlier on Sunday that the date and the format of a Russia-NATO Council meeting, as well as the composition of the Russian delegation were being looked at.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed on Friday that Moscow had received a proposal to call a Russia-NATO Council member to discuss the situation in Ukraine. She also stressed that Russia is ready for direct dialogue with NATO on Russia’s draft agreements on security guarantees that would exclude NATO’s further eastwards expansion and deployment of its weapons in the exact proximity to the Russian borders.
On December 17, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements in security guarantees from the United States and NATO. The drafts were handed over to the US side on December 15.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Russia needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments.