NATO-Russia Council meeting "useful" despite "fundamental disagreements"
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has characterized the latest session of the NATO-Russia Council as a "frank and useful discussion" of Ukraine, Afghanistan, and risk reduction.
Stoltenberg made the comments at a press conference following the July 13 meeting, saying that NATO and Russia "continue to have fundamental disagreements," particularly regarding Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its role in the war in eastern Ukraine.
NATO and Russia also briefed one another on upcoming military exercises -- Russia's Zapad-2017 and NATO's Exercise Trident Javelin 2017.
Stoltenberg said such voluntary exchanges were encouraging, but "do not substitute for the mandatory transparency required under the Vienna Document," referring to a nearly defunct agreement on exchanges of military information by members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
And here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry:
A slightly less optimistic take on the Ukraine-EU summit: