Russian Federation Council Has Low Expectations From NATO-Russia Council

Russian Federation Council, the upper house of Parliament, does not expect any concrete results from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-Russia Council at permanent representatives level, the first deputy chairman of the Council's Defense and Security Committee said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian Defense Ministry announced that the next NATO-Russia Council at permanent representatives level is scheduled for July 13, 2016 after NATO's summit in the Polish capital of Warsaw, scheduled for July 8-9.

"I personally do not expect any concrete results from the NATO-Russia Council meeting. In this case, we are heading to it with not a very good luggage. It is obvious that Russia can not be not disturbed with, to put it mildly, unfriendly gestures of the alliance in the former Warsaw Pact states," Franz Klintsevich said.

Klintsevich added that the upcoming NATO-Russia Council is "unlikely to reach any concrete decisions capable of preventing incidents in the Mediterranean and the Baltic region," but noted that the contact on this level should be maintained and developed.

Earlier in the day, member of Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) Nikolay Kovalev said that Russia should be treated as an equitable dialogue partner in the framework of NATO-Russia meetings or they will serve no purpose.

Since 2014, NATO has been building up its military presence in Eastern Europe, using Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine as a pretext for the move. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims and warned NATO that the military buildup near Russia’s borders is provocative and threatens the existing strategic balance of power.