OREANDA-NEWS. Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg called the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council "a difficult but important discussion." This was reported by RIA Novosti.

“It was a tough discussion. But that is why this meeting was so important, ”Stoltenberg said.

He noted that there are serious differences between NATO and Russia that are not easy to overcome.

“There are serious differences between NATO allies and Russia on these issues. It will not be easy to overcome the contradictions, but it is a positive sign that all NATO allies and Russia sat down at the same table and started to do this in essence, "the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance emphasized.

According to him, this concerns security issues in Europe and the situation in Ukraine.

On January 12, the first meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in 2.5 years was held at the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels. The meeting lasted about four hours. The Russian interdepartmental delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg chaired the meeting on behalf of the alliance.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft security guarantees from the United States and NATO. In the document, the parties undertake to eliminate all existing infrastructure for deploying nuclear weapons outside their territory, to exercise restraint in military planning and during exercises to reduce the risks of possible dangerous situations, and also not to take actions that affect the security of each other.