NATO Secretary General Urges More Transparency on Russia's Military Drills

NATO wants Russia to be more transparent regarding its military drills, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday, following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Brussels.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Stoltenberg met with Russia's top diplomat on the sidelines of a session of the European Council of Ministers in Brussels earlier in the day.

[VIDEO] Statement post #NATO SG meeting with Russian ForMin https://t.co/7dXXh2BK8S

— NATO (@NATO) 19 мая 2015

"For NATO it is important to do whatever we can to avoid incidents and the situation spiraling out of control. And therefore we are very focused on transparency related to all our exercises and we are fully transparent when it comes to when and where we are going to conduct exercises."

#NATO SG meets #Russia Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov in Brussels today http://t.co/L8dA0hH8Ev pic.twitter.com/oN1VqFGYio

— NATO (@NATO) 19 мая 2015

The NATO chief noted that the large number of snap drills conducted by Russia "reduce predictability" along the alliance's borders, adding that Moscow should be more transparent about its military activities.

NATO has been increasing its presence in Eastern Europe and near Russia's western border over the past year amid strained relations with Moscow arising from the Ukrainian conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over the alliance's increased military activities along its borders, including the bloc's large-scale drills in the Baltic States.

In December 2014, Russia's Defense Ministry said the country planned to conduct at least 4,000 military drills in 2015. NATO expressed concern over the exercises despite the fact that Moscow gave advance warning of its plans to hold drills in 2015.