Kremlin considering Stoltenberg's invitation for NATO-Russia summit

The Russian Foreign Ministry has acknowledged that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed holding a meeting within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council next month, but the Kremlin has not yet decided whether to participate.

"We are analyzing the possibility," a Kremlin spokesman said, according to the TASS news agency.

The format of the meeting and the composition of the Russian delegation are being considered, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.

A NATO spokesman was quoted as saying, according to the AFP news agency, that the alliance had contacted the Kremlin to secure participation.

"We are in contact with Russia" about the meeting, said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference. Moscow, December 23, 2021.

The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002, but is currently inactive due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

If the meeting takes place on January 12, as Stoltenberg has proposed, it would mark the first gathering of the Council in 2 and a half years.

This is the first meeting that has been proposed since Moscow has demanded that NATO end its expansion to the east, as well as cooperation with states like Ukraine and Georgia.

American officials have said that some demands are impossible or even contrary to Western values, but the United States is ready to engage in talks in early January.