NATO wants to 'reestablish communication’ with Russia’s military

Published time: January 22, 2015 13:14

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U.S. General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Reuters / Valentyn Ogirenko)

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Military, NATO, Russia

NATO's top official has announced plans to re-establish contact with Russian military leaders after months of tensions, calling the relations "important."
"We have talked an awful lot about how we re-establish communication and the fact that the communication with our senior military interlocutors in Russia is important," NATO's General Philip Breedlove, who also serves as the Commander of the US European Command, said on Thursday as quoted by Reuters.
He said he had kept up contact with General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, after the Crimea referendum last year. No further details were given about that.
"We are going to re-establish that, we have talked among several of us senior military leaders how we will do that ... but yes, we are going to re-establish communication with Valery [Gerasimov]," he said.
READ MORE: Russia recalls chief military representative to NATO
In April, Moscow recalled its chief military representative to NATO for consultations after the North Atlantic Alliance suspended military and civilian cooperation with Russia over the Ukraine crisis. At that time. the bloc also said it would step up its cooperation with Kiev , promoting defense reforms and increasing the activity of a liaison office in Ukraine.