NATO Gives No Details on Reports of Possible Formal Talks With Russia

NATO neither confirms nor denies the latest reports on possible resumption of formal talks with Russia, a NATO official told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — On Wednesday, media reported, citing unnamed sources, that NATO was currently discussing possible invitation of Russia to the first formal talks since the deterioration of NATO-Russia relations in 2014.

Answering a question whether NATO could confirm the discussions of possible formal talks with Russia, the NATO official referred to the December 2 statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg when he announced that the alliance had decided to keep channels for political contact open.

"We have nothing to add to this statement," the official said.

On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was in favor of renewing the Russian-NATO Council, even only at the level of ambassadors.

The NATO-Russia Council's work was suspended on April 1, 2014, after the alliance's foreign ministers issued a statement condemning Crimea's reunification with Russia, which the West largely regards a "annexation."

The peninsula rejoined Russia as a result of a referendum in which over 96 percent of Crimeans voted in favor of seceding from Ukraine and reunifying with Russia.