Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8
By Kamila Aliyeva – Trend:
Russia and NATO have agreed to use military lines of communication following the talks held in Baku.
General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Minister of Defense met Sept. 7 in the capital of Azerbaijan.
“This face to face meeting demonstrates a clear mutual interest to maintain the military communication, in line with NATO’s policy of transparency and ongoing dialogue at the political level with senior Russian leadership,” the press service of NATO told Trend via email.
During the meeting, Pavel and Gerasimov agreed to continue using the military lines of communication in the future, according to the message.
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.
However, it is the first step in trying to reconnect NATO and Russia since NATO took a decision to freeze relations with Russia.
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.