Federation Council Speaker Kosachev: the success of the Russia-NATO Council meeting will depend on the agenda
Photo: Yves Herman / Reuters
The effectiveness of the Russia-NATO Council meeting will depend on whether all members of the alliance and Moscow talk on equal terms. Such a condition was named to Izvestia by the vice-speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev.
In his opinion, the success of negotiations with NATO will depend on the formation of the agenda. The vice-speaker of the Federation Council noted that the council of Russia with the alliance lost its meaning at the previous stage, since the agenda was imposed by NATO on Moscow, and Russian proposals on this topic were systematically ignored.
According to Kosachev, it is necessary to return to the principles on which the Russia-NATO Council was originally created.
When asked by the publication about the possibility of adopting the security guarantees put forward by the Russian Federation, the alliance's press service recalled only the statement of the North Atlantic Council of December 16 regarding the situation around Ukraine.
“Any dialogue with Russia should be conducted on the basis of reciprocity, take into account NATO's concerns about Russia's actions,” the alliance said, recalling that the conversation should be based on key principles and fundamental documents of European security, and also take place in consultation with European partners NATO.
Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's international affairs committee, emphasized that NATO should not expect full acceptance of Russian demands. “The West will not reject all proposals outright and will try to demonstrate its readiness to constructively discuss the accumulated problems,” the politician said, suggesting that the West would not be ready to accept Moscow's proposals on security guarantees in full and comprehensive form.
On December 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow was considering an invitation to take part in a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council. She noted that the format, modalities and timing of a possible meeting will have to be determined taking into account these circumstances.
