NATO-Russia Council Expected To Discuss Flight Incidents, Ukraine – RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, the second this year, has begun in Brussels.

The July 13 talks are expected to focus on measures to reduce tensions and risks after recent incidents involving maneuvering by warplanes flying over the Baltic Sea.

Russian state media reported the sides will also discuss the war in Ukraine between the government and separatists who are receiving military, economic, and political support from Moscow.

Speaking in Kyiv on July 10, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Moscow to remove "its thousands of soldiers from Ukraine and stop supporting militants with command-and-control and military equipment."

Russia has denied military involvement in the conflict in Ukraine despite substantial evidence it has provided troops, mercenaries, and military equipment via the part of Ukraine's border that is controlled by the separatists.

Before the NATO-Russia Council meeting, NATO officials told journalists they will press for Russian pilots to file flight plans, respond to air traffic control, or identify themselves with cockpit transmitters when flying in the Baltic area.

NATO said last month it tracked three Russian aircraft over the sea, including two jets which it said did not respond to air traffic control or requests to identify themselves.

Moscow maintains that all Russian flights over the Baltic comply with international law.

For its part, Russia said it scrambled a jet last month to intercept a nuclear-capable U.S. B-52 bomber it said was flying over the Baltic, in an incident that had echoes of the Cold War.

The NATO-Russia Council is a forum intended to prevent such tensions from escalating.

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NATO-Russia Council Expected To Discuss Flight Incidents, Ukraine - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty