Russia ready to revive strategic partnership with NATO: Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has opened the door to restoring strategic partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), saying Moscow would react constructively to any offer of cooperation with the alliance.
“I want to say with all honesty: we are receiving signals from our NATO partners that it wouldn't hurt to renew cooperation between our military departments. If there are any specific proposals to that end, we will certainly react in a constructive way,” Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the Russian city of Volgograd on Thursday.
Lavrov added that he had earlier received information from Brussels, where the NATO headquarters is located, that direct phone lines had been restored between the alliance and Moscow.
The German foreign minister also welcomed progress in restoring military contacts between Russia and the Western military bloc, which were suspended amid the crisis in Ukraine.
"I'm glad that, after the situation we had last year, we are now in the process of re-establishing this level of information," Steinmeier said, stressing the need for a hotline between Russia and NATO on the ongoing tension in Ukraine.
The crisis in Ukraine has strained ties between Russia and the West.
The US and its Western allies accuse Moscow of deepening the Ukrainian conflict that broke out last year. Russia has, however, repeatedly denied the accusation.
The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been hit by deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush pro-Russia protests there.
According to the UN, more than 6,000 people have been killed in the Ukrainian crisis.
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