Delegations Arrive For Russia-NATO Council Meeting in Brussels

A meeting of the Russia-NATO Council is set to kick off in Brussels on Wednesday; the following day, a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council will be held in Vienna.

Sputnik is live outside NATO HQ in Brussels, as diplomats arrive to take part in the Russia-NATO meeting on security guarantees.

The meeting was organised amid tensions between Russia and the West, that have increased in the past several weeks amid an alleged Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border and claims of preparations for an "invasion".

Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations, saying it reserves the right to relocate troops within its sovereign territory and at its own discretion, while making it clear that NATO's military activity near Russian borders poses a threat to its security.

Against this background, Moscow published draft agreements on security guarantees for NATO and the US in late 2021. Moscow proposed, in particular, guarantees that the alliance would no expand eastward. Russia also pointed out that NATO should present Moscow with firm legally-binding guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia will never become members of NATO.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that this issue is a matter of Russia's national security.

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