Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 7
By Kamila Aliyeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan's capital has proved to be the best location for holding international talks.
Baku was eventually chosen as a location considered neutral for the meeting between NATO and Russia military chiefs, Mark Galeotti, a Senior Researcher at Institute of International Relations in Prague, told Trend.
Today, on Sept. 7, the official meeting between the chairman of the NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel and Russia’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces General Valery Gerasimov takes place in Azerbaijan’s capital.
It is not the first time when Baku is chosen as a platform for hosting international talks. In February this year another high-ranking meeting between the Chiefs of General Staff of the US Armed Forces and Russia was held in the capital of Azerbaijan.
“There is an official agenda related to deconfliction in Syria, as well as in potential near-miss situations in the Baltic Sea,” the expert noted.
The talks come ahead of the joint “Zapad 2017” Russian exercises with Belarus next week which caused concern in Poland and the Baltic States.
Above all this is a first step in trying to reconnect NATO and Russia in some kind of meaningful dialogue, according to Galeotti.
Moreover, this date marks the first meeting between the sides since NATO took a decision to freeze relations with Russia.
“The hope is that soldier-to-soldier talks can rebuild a little of the lost trust, in a way that is harder when politicians meet,” he added.
In 2014, NATO decided to suspend practical cooperation with Russia, while maintaining a political dialogue at the level of ambassadors and above. Russia has repeatedly stated that it was not Moscow that suspended agreements with NATO and that's why the alliance should take steps to reanimate the interaction.