No Point in Discussing Internal Ukrainian Crisis at NATO – Russia Council, Statement Reads

BRUSSELS – Russian has explained to NATO that it is pointless discussing the Ukrainian crisis, which is that of internal nature for this country, at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), the Russian Permanent Mission to NATO statement following an NRC ambassador-level meeting in Brussels on Friday.

“Some NATO countries brought up the situation in Ukraine. We gave our fundamental assessment of the implementation of the Minsk agreement. Once again we drew the attention to the fact that internal Ukrainian crisis is discussed in other specialized formats and has no added value within NRC,” the statement reads.

In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference following the NRC meeting that regarding Ukraine, the meeting “discussed the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the lack of progress on the Minsk Agreements and the tensions in and around the Sea of Azov.” “NATO Allies once again called for the release of the Ukrainian sailors and ships Russia seized last November,” Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he pointed out that Russian and NATO “continue to have fundamental differences” on these issues.

 Stoltenberg also noted that Russia and NATO “hold fundamentally different views, but we [NATO] are committed to continuing our dialogue. Without dialogue, we cannot solve our differences.”

TASS

R.S