Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the main issue on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will be the future of the Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty.
The diplomat recalled that the issue was already discussed at Russia’s initiative at the latest meeting on October 31, 2018. "As far as the forthcoming meeting is concerned, it should by no means be allowed to result in the repetition of political positions that were already declared at the previous meeting," he stressed.
"In making preparations for the session we must bear in mind, firstly, the contacts we’ve had with the U.S. side, and also some other factors that would allow for analyzing in depth the situation involving the treaty through the lens of European security and the degree to which this problem concerns the interests of each of the Russia-NATO Council member-states," Grushko said.
Commenting the possibility the Russia-NATO Council might meet in session before February 2 - the date when Washington intends to begin its pullout from the INF Treaty - the Russian deputy foreign minister said that Russia was in no mood of trying to hold the Russia-NATO Council’s meeting "within any artificial deadlines."
"The temporal factor is rather important, but the matter of content is far more significant," TASS cited Grushko as saying.
We take a serious attitude to the dialogue with our partners and we are certain that the discussion of such a major problem as the future of the INF Treaty requires fundamental preparations," the Russian diplomat believes.
