NATO chief: 'Broad agreement' to seek meeting with Russia

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO has reached "broad agreement" to seek another meeting with Russia before NATO leaders meet in Warsaw this July, the alliance's chief said Friday.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said that at a dinner the previous evening, alliance foreign ministers agreed on a "dual track approach" toward Moscow: to keep reinforcing NATO defenses against what they see as a mounting Russian threat, but also to pursue dialogue with the Kremlin.

Stoltenberg said the ministers "all agreed in the current situation that we need a platform (like) the NATO-Russia Council to pursue transparency, predictability and to work for enhancing mechanisms for risk reduction to avoid dangerous situations, situations which can spiral out of control."

The NATO-Russia Council, created in 2002 when relations between the former Cold War foes were much better, met for the first time in nearly two years last month.

That meeting failed to bridge differences between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance that have led to a sharp downturn in relations since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The Crimea takeover led NATO to suspend practical cooperation with Russia, but "we decided to keep channels for political dialogue open," Stoltenberg said. He said NATO officials will now "start to look into the modalities and practical arrangements" for reconvening the NATO-Russia Council.

There was no immediate response from the Russian Mission to NATO. April's council meeting was attended by Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko and his counterparts from the alliance's 28 member countries.

Stoltenberg spoke to reporters before a meeting on how NATO and the European Union can cooperate more in facing today's security challenges, from a resurgent Russia to Islamic extremism in the Middle East and North Africa.

Twenty-two NATO nations also belong to the EU. Friday's meeting was also attended by the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.