Jens Stoltenberg
NATO believes it is important to continue dialogue with Moscow. This was stated by the Secretary General of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg in his interview to TV channel “112 Ukraine”.
“The NATO approach toward Moscow is what we call a “bilateral approach”. First of all, it is a strong collective defence, which is credible, but at the same time political dialogue, because Russia is our neighbour, which will not go away. Therefore, it is important to talk with Russia, especially in conditions of growing tension,” — said Stoltenberg.
Speaking about the upcoming Russian-Belarusian military exercises in September 2017, the Secretary General noted that NATO will watch over them, while recognizing the right of all countries to exercise their armed forces. He stressed that the Alliance currently sees no direct military threat to any of its member countries.
10 July, press Secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the possible membership of Ukraine in NATO is Moscow’s concern because “may be a further step” to advance the military infrastructure of NATO to Russia’s borders. This Peskov said that the question of membership of a neighboring state in the North Atlantic Alliance does not concern Russia directly.
Earlier on Monday the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that soon Kyiv would apply for NATO membership. In the beginning of the month the Ukrainian leader has told, that approved the country’s accession to NATO as one of the key factors of government policy.