Do Russian Military Staff and NATO unfreeze contacts?

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, had the telephone conversation with the chairman of NATO's Military Committee Gen. Petr Pavel, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

It was the first such high-level contact since NATO suspended a dialogue with Russia in 2014.

The ministry said Gerasimov and Pavel discussed prevention of incidents, prospects for restoring military cooperation and acute security issues., the AP reported.

Gerasimov drew Pavel's attention to Moscow's continued concerns with NATO's "significantly increased military activity near Russian borders, as well as the deployment of the joint NATO forces' forward-based system," the ministry added.