NATO-Russia Council meeting begins in Brussels

The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council has begun at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, - Russian media report.

Russia is represented by Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin and Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg represents NATO.

The meeting is taking place as a follow-up to the talks on security guarantees between Russia and the USA, which took place in Geneva on January 9-10.

As previously reported, Russia delivered a tough ultimatum to the USA and NATO, demanding not to allow Ukraine and Georgia to join the Alliance, as well as to "roll back" in Eastern Europe to the 1997 positions. The leadership of America and NATO calls these demands unacceptable and raises the question of ending Russian aggression against Ukraine.