Media: NATO will demand explanations from Russia about Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad
NATO is trying to maintain contacts with Russia and plans to hold a joint meeting at the end of March, at which it will speak of its concerns regarding the build-up of Russian missiles in Kaliningrad, as reported by Spiegel, citing its sources.
"NATO wants Moscow to explain the deployment of medium-range Iskander missiles on the eastern border of the Alliance," the publication reads.
According to Spiegel, the parties agreed to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the headquarters of the Alliance on March 30. Since the spring of 2016, such meetings have been held at the ambassadorial level; after the annexation of the Crimea, meetings at the ministerial level were completely discontinued.
The situation with the Iskander missiles is of serious concern, since nuclear warheads can hit targets in Western Europe. The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council will be an attempt to somewhat ease the tension between the parties and return to dialogue, the publication notes.
Another topic that will be on the agenda is Russia’s unannounced military exercises on its western borders, which is considered in Brussels to be a conscious provocation.
In December 2016, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the deployment of Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad region was as a result of the destructive actions of NATO.