“On a mutually beneficial basis”: NATO Secretary General confirmed the date of negotiations with Russia on security guarantees

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has appointed talks between the alliance and Russia for January 12 this year, reports Reuters, citing a representative of the North Atlantic Alliance.

As stated in the statement of the military bloc, “any dialogue with Russia should take place on a mutually beneficial basis, taking into account NATO’s concerns about Moscow’s actions, taking into account consultations with alliance partners,” RBC reports.

At the same time, NATO has not yet clarified the agenda of the meeting. Earlier, Russia announced its intention to discuss with the alliance its initiatives in the field of European security, which include, in particular, the requirement to abandon the deployment of conventional NATO military forces near the borders of the Russian Federation and to involve Ukraine in the alliance, TASS lists.

Recall that in November-December of the outgoing year, the world media filled the topic of the alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that should follow. According to the authors and experts of these publications, a sign of an “invasion” is the concentration of Russian military equipment in the regions bordering on Ukraine. Possible sanctions include both the shutdown of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and restrictions against Russian energy companies, and the shutdown of the SWIFT system of fast financial settlements.