NATO’s suspending practical cooperation with Russia does not imply suspension of political dialogue, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
“NATO has decided, and that includes the US, is to suspend all practical cooperation with Russia as a reaction to the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014,” he said at a roundtable meeting with international journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “That decision still stands. But we have underlined that the suspension of practical cooperation does not mean that we suspend political dialogue.”
He said last year’s three meetings of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels testify to that. “So we are strengthening our political dialogue with Russia, on a wide range of issues,” he said. “We are also looking into how we can strengthen our military alliance of communications. So there is room for dialogue and for engagement with Russia even though we continue to suspend our practical cooperation.”.