“We have a desire for a meaningful dialogue with Russia. So, I hope that in upcoming weeks we might have another NATO-Russia Council meeting, so that the allies and Russia can discuss together, for example, how to improve military to military contacts to help prevent unintended escalations for example, when there are incidents, and also to express views on different issues”, said the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai during a press conference at the NATO Information Centre in Armenia , referring to the NATO-Russia relations.
He informed that NATO plans to deploy additional troops in the Baltic countries. “It’s happening in response to Russian actions, most importantly Russia’s military activities in Ukraine and in particular the annexation of Crimea, which makes clear that Russia is willing to use armed force to change borders in Europe. And it’s also worth noting what happened in Georgia, where there are unwanted Russian troops. We will be willing and capable of defending all NATO allies”, he assured.
“These are not massive deployments: about one thousand troops in each of the countries, so there is no military threat to Russia. Russia has around 300 thousand troops in the Western military district, so they do not need to lose any sleep”.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
