Shoygu: NATO-Russia council meeting has not brought optimism
The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) which took place on April 20th hasn't added any optimism in improving relations between Moscow and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, declared the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 5th Moscow Conference on International Security, Shoygu emphasized that Russia’s military cooperation with NATO and EU countries "is at a standstill, but not because of the Russians.” Shoygu also stated that the functioning mechanisms of arms control "have become obsolete."
"The operating mechanisms are sometimes used unfairly by the partners," Shoygu declared, having expressed the opinion that "the new control structure over conventional arms will be difficult to create in with the critical lack of trust in Europe." He noted that "a rigid and uncompromising informational war is being waged" against Russia.
NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 due to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea in March of 2014.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in an interview with CBS earlier this week, expressed the opinion that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, sees NATO and the EU as a threat and tries to undermine the unity in Europe. The Kremlin responded to this, declaring that Moscow is ready to develop good relations with all countries and unions.