The Russia-NATO Council helped the sides to clarify their views for each other, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said at a news conference following a Russia-NATO Council on Wednesday, Tass reports.
"It was an absolutely necessary conversation that helped us to understand who stands where and the challenge we have to deal with," he said.
Grushko said Russia repeatedly offered to NATO to resume military contacts "to prevent dangerous military incidents" but was rebuffed on account of a political decision made by the alliance in 2014.
NATO in 2014 decided to freeze all military contacts with Russia and the decisions is still in force.
The council meeting marked the second stage in a series of talks between Russia and the West on Russia’s proposals for European security. The first stage was the talks between Russia and the US that took place in Geneva on January 10, and the third stage will happen as an OSCE meeting in Vienna on January 13.
The Russian delegation in Brussels is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. NATO is represented by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and representatives of 30 NATO member states in Brussels.