Stoltenberg convened a NATO-Russia meeting on January 12th

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg convened a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on January 12, an official of the North Atlantic Alliance said today.

Any dialogue with Russia should be conducted on the principle of reciprocity, to deal with NATO’s concerns regarding Russia’s actions and to take place in consultations with European partners – said the same official regarding the crisis over Ukraine.

Tensions between Russia and NATO members over the crisis in Ukraine have risen in recent weeks.

The presidents of the USA and Russia, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, respectively talked twice in December last year.

In early December, they held a virtual meeting at a time when, according to intelligence estimates and satellite images, about 70,000 troops were deployed on the Russian side of the border with Ukraine.

However, US intelligence estimates that Putin plans to deploy up to 175,000 troops.

Moscow has caused concern in the West by deploying thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine over the past two months.

While the Western allies initiated the possibility of Russian engagement in Ukraine, the Russian authorities decisively rejected those claims, stating that they can deploy troops on their own territory at their discretion, the Voice of America reported.

Also in the middle of the month, Moscow presented a list of security proposals it seeks to negotiate, including a promise that NATO would give up military activities in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

The American leader, as an unnamed high-ranking official of the administration announced, will advocate a diplomatic solution to the increasingly tense situation on the border between Russia and Ukraine.

– We are ready for diplomacy and the diplomatic path forward. However, we are also ready to respond if Russia implements plans to invade Ukraine, an administration official told reporters.

The two leaders spoke at Putin’s request, ahead of high-level security talks between US and Russian officials on 10 January, 2022 in Geneva.

Biden and Putin are not expected to attend the meeting.