NATO Secretary General To Hold Russia - NATO Council Meeting On January 12

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. (Wikimedia Commons/Mueller MSC)

JAKARTA - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) on January 12, Anadolu Agency stated on Sunday, citing a source in the alliance.

The source noted that NATO is in talks with Russia on this issue. Earlier, the press service of NATO said on January 12-13, Brussels will host a meeting of the NATO Military Committee at the level of the Heads of Defense of member states.

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg said NATO offered Moscow to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in early 2022, to discuss developments in Ukraine.

In addition, he stressed that NATO will never compromise on Ukraine's right to choose its own path, as well as apply to join the alliance as well as the right of NATO countries to defend their allies.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed on Friday Moscow received an offer from Brussels related to the Russia-NATO Council meeting, as reported by TASS.

The diplomat also reiterated Russia's readiness for direct dialogue on security safeguard proposals, which prevent NATO from advancing eastward and deploying weapons near Russia's borders.

The United States and Ukraine said Russia may be preparing for an invasion of its former Soviet neighbor. Russia denies that and says it is Ukraine's growing relationship with NATO that has led to the escalating standoff. It has compared it to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 when the world was on the brink of nuclear war.

The administration of US President Joe Biden said some of Russia's security proposals were clearly unacceptable, but Washington would respond with more concrete ideas regarding any format of the talks.

The United States, the European Union, and the Group of Seven (G7) have warned Putin that he would face "grave consequences" including tough economic sanctions in the event of renewed Russian aggression.

The Kremlin's demands contain elements such as Russia's effective veto over future NATO membership for Ukraine, which the West has overridden.

Others would imply the removal of US nuclear weapons from Europe and the withdrawal of multinational NATO battalions from Poland and from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania that were once in the Soviet Union.

For your information, on December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on legally binding security guarantees on the part of the US and NATO. The treaty document was handed over to US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried on December 15.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin underlined during his annual press conference last week, Moscow views the US' positive reaction to the security guarantee proposal.

The Russian leader said Washington was ready to start talks as early as 2022 in Geneva. Furthermore, the Secretary-General of NATO has previously confirmed that the alliance will carefully review Moscow's proposals.