NATO is ready to maintain dialogue with Russia on all issues, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)Treaty, the alliance’s Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Alejandro Alvargonzalez, told TASS on Thursday.
"The INF is a question mainly of the US and Russia, who are the signatories of that treaty, but of course it involves the security in Europe, and Europe is consulted by the US," he said. "In the NATO-Russia Council and other forums NATO and Russia should continue to speak about all issues, and INF could be one of them."
Commenting on remarks by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov about Moscow’s willingness to begin consultations on the treaty with Washington, Alvargonzalez noted that NATO "is not a part in this discussion between Russia and the US." "Instead of saying that we are ready to talk to the media, Russia should be talking to the US, not through the media, but directly," he said.