NATO reaches "broad agreement for meeting with Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - NATO has reached "broad agreement" to seek another meeting with Russia before NATO leaders meet in Warsaw this July, the alliance's chief said Friday, May 20, according to the Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman swiftly welcomed the announcement, but said all dialogue must include a respect for Russia's interests.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a Thursday dinner, alliance foreign ministers agreed on a "dual track approach" toward Moscow: to keep reinforcing NATO defenses against what they see as a mounting Russian threat, but also to keep channels of communication open to the Kremlin.

Stoltenberg said the ministers "all agreed in the current situation that we need a platform (like) the NATO-Russia Council to pursue transparency, predictability and to work for enhancing mechanisms for risk reduction to avoid dangerous situations, situations which can spiral out of control.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, welcomed NATO's intentions.

"The Russian side has never avoided dialogue, we always have supported dialogue," he told reporters. "We believe it's the only way to tackle the problems we face. At the same time, a dialogue must be trusting and constructive and be based on respect of mutual interests, otherwise it hardly can be productive."