Tutku Şenen
14 July 2016•Update: 14 July 2016
BRUSSELS
NATO and Russia reached no agreement on the Ukraine issue during a meeting Wednesday, said the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg's remarks came during a press conference in Brussels, following a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council.
"There was not a meeting of minds today. But both sides clarified their positions," Stoltenberg said.
He stated that the meeting was useful for exchanging views.
"We discussed some of the most important problems about the security of the Europe-Atlantic [region]. This shows the importance of the NATO-Russia Council," he added.
Stoltenberg said that NATO members maintain their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
He announced that Russia submitted a proposal during the summit for security in Baltic airspace.
"I welcome Russia's desire to implement measures to reduce risk," Stoltenberg said.
A NATO summit held in Warsaw last week approved plans to station four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on a rotational basis as a reassurance measure against Russia.
“These battalions will be robust and multinational. They demonstrate the strength of the transatlantic bond. And they make clear that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on the whole alliance," Stoltenberg told reporters last week.
NATO-Russian relations worsened following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly voted almost unanimously to proclaim the annexation illegal.
Along with many UN countries, including the U.S. and the EU, Turkey does not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
