Russia, NATO military chiefs agree to continue contact

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Russian Armed Forces General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Petr Pavel, chairman of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreed to continue contact during a meeting in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on Thursday.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said the two generals exchanged views on the international security situation in Europe and the Middle East during the meeting and both agreed to continue talking.

The meeting is believed to be "a follow-on" from the phone call between Gerasimov and Pavel on March 3, said NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) shakes hands with Russia's Head of the Armed Forces General Staff, First Deputy Defense Minister, Army General Valery Gerasimov (R) as Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu (L) looks on during their meeting in Moscow on December 22, 2016. /AFP Photo

According to NATO's website, the meeting “demonstrates a clear mutual interest to maintain the military lines of communication,” but did not give any details on what was discussed.

That conversation, held at NATO’s initiative, was the first-ever high-level contact after NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 over the situation in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thursday's talks were held ahead the joint “Zapad-2017” Russian exercises with Belarus next week. Moscow says the event will involve about 12,700 troops.

NATO's Military Committee Chairman Petr Pavel is seen before a working session of the North Atlantic Council during the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland, on July 09, 2016. /AFP Photo

Russia's war exercises have stirred unease in Poland and the Baltic States.

However, Gerasimov on Thursday tried to brush off NATO's concerns on the military exercises. He told Pavel the military exercises were "long-planned and defensive" and "not aimed against any third country," media reported.

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