NATO-Russia Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM This year's second meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) has begun in Brussels, a TASS correspondent reported from the alliance's headquarters. The meeting is being held at the ambassadorial level, Russia is represented by Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko, Kazinform has learnt from TASS .

A diplomatic source in Brussels earlier said that efforts to prevent incidents and ensure the transparency of military activity in Europe that has considerably intensified recently will top the agenda of the meeting. The issue at hand will be mutual buzzing of warplanes over the Baltic Sea region. The upcoming military exercises and the two sides' efforts to beef up military presence near common borders will be discussed too.

According to the source, the parties will also discuss the situation in Ukraine. However, the delegates have little hope to achieve mutual understanding on the issue and are determined to reiterate their stances without any particular hopes for the rapprochement. In addition to that, the participants in the meeting will raise the issue of Afghanistan where the alliance plans to again step up its military presence as of next year due to the gradual intensification of Islamist activities, both of the Taliban movement and the units linked to the Islamic State (IS, terror group, outlawed in Russia, Kazakhstan and many other countries).

 

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