OREANDA-NEWS Contacts between NATO and Russia are currently not being carried out, but the communication channel remains open in case of need, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The Russian diplomat, who is currently responsible for contacts with NATO headquarters in Brussels, commented on the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12. "There is an understanding that this channel (through the Russian Embassy in Belgium – ed.) remains open for such contacts if necessary, but recently, in practical terms, such contacts have not been carried out," he said. As for the Russia-NATO Council (the last meeting in this format was held in January 2022) then, according to Tokovinin, in fact it does not exist, although "formal decisions" on this matter have not been made. "There is no need for this, because in the current situation there is virtually no contact between Russia and NATO, this is obvious to everyone," the Russian diplomat said.

In October 2021, in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats to NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Russia's retaliatory measures: in addition to the suspension of the work of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow, the work of its information bureau also stopped. The Russian permanent mission to NATO suspended its work, and for contacts with Russia, the alliance was offered to contact the Russian ambassador to Belgium.