LOCAL PRESS

Zannier: Impartial Serbia’s OSCE presidency (RTS)

During the OSCE presidency, Serbia has been impartial and pragmatic, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said in an interview for Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS). “Serbia didn’t set unrealistic goals, although it acted in a much divided environment,” says Zannier. He says that he has had very good cooperation with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and the entire Serbian team. “My feeling is that Serbia has found a role for itself, and this is the role of a good mediator and respected mediator between all sides,” notes Zannier. According to him, this obviously wasn’t comfortable because “when the temperature rises, when there are great divisions, it is not always comfortable to be in the middle, but it was appreciated”. “I think that Serbia was impartial in the course of its presidency,” concluded Zannier.

Dacic: Serbia’s OSCE presidency excellent (RTS)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told the evening news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that, according to all assessments, Serbia has performed the role of the OSCE presidency in an excellent manner. The Ministerial Council in Belgrade will be the largest gathering in the Serbian capital since 1989, said Dacic. The ministerial meeting in Belgrade will round off Serbia’s OSCE presidency. Dacic says everything is prepared for the upcoming gathering and that Serbia had demonstrated in the past year that it is a serious player capable of chairing a large and complex organization like the OSCE, at a moment when it was facing acute problems like the situation in Ukraine, and then the migrant crisis and terrorism. According to Dacic, 44 foreign ministers, plus the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and the representative of Jordan are arriving in Belgrade. The Minister announced many bilateral meetings during the summit in Belgrade. He points out that the very fact that representatives of so many states are coming shows that Serbia and its presidency have been well assessed. However, Dacic says that Serbia cannot influence the OSCE political decisions since these conclusions are adopted through consensus. Dacic could not confirm whether the Russian and Turkish officials would meet, as it had been speculated in the media. Asked about the statements by the Russian Ambassador to Serbian Aleksandr Chepurin that he expects the OSCE to assess the downing of the Russian plane as an “act of aggression”, Dacic said that such an initiative didn’t exist and that if it was launched Turkey had to agree with it, since the OSCE decisions are adopted through consensus. The Minister says that it has been announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Belgrade. Commenting on the attack on Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, Dacic says the overthrowing of the government has been going on for several years through fabricated affairs that do not experience an epilogue. He says that perhaps some are sorry that there has not been greater destabilization, but the most important thing is that the Prime Minister’s reaction was that he “simply had the courage to resolve whether somebody was right or not” by going himself to the police. Dacic said the most important thing was to preserve stability.

Gojkovic: Serbia committed to OSCE priorities (Tanjug)

Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic on Wednesday met with the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Ilkka Kanerva, who is in Serbia for the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, and noted that the opportunity to chair the OSCE is a great recognition for Serbia.
During its chairmanship – marked by challenges such as the Ukrainian crisis, frozen conflicts and the issue of terrorism – Serbia has been committed to the OSCE priorities, Gojkovic noted. Kanerva praised the active role of the Serbian parliamentary delegation in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Serbian parliament said in a statement. Gojkovic and Kanerva also discussed the issue of migration, and Gojkovic briefed the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly president on Serbia’s activities.

Kurz: Serbia has proved itself on international scene (Tanjug)

Serbia has proved itself on the international diplomatic scene during its one-year OSCE chairmanship, meeting all expectations, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said ahead of the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Belgrade. The year 2014 was one of the toughest years for OSCE and Europe – the Ukrainian conflict shook the very foundations of the European security system, and the consequences are felt to this day, and that is why the two successive OSCE chairs – Switzerland and Serbia – deserve great credit for measures initiated to ease tensions in the Ukrainian crisis, Kurz said in an interview to Tanjug. Serbia – Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in particular – always strived to exercise moderation, which was more than a difficult task, Kurz explained.

Flight control wishes to return sky above Kosovo and Metohija (Novosti)

“Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro will undertake all legal steps to return full control of the airspace above Kosovo and Metohija, because it is natural that this job is returned to us. We could perform it already now, since we fulfill all technical, organizations and personnel conditions, but this needs to be agreed between representatives of Serbia and international institutions,” the Director of the Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro (SMATSA) Radojica Rovcanin tells Novosti. Pointing out that this sensitive topic is being negotiated with KFOR, which has been controlling the airspace above Kosovo and Metohija since 1999 according the Kumanovo Agreement, he says that KFOR is “balancing” since relations between Belgrade and Pristina are still not good. “If we were to put politics aside, this would be the cheapest solution, since SMATSA costs for providing services are far lower than any other provider, says Rovcanin. In regard to speculations that Tirana could control the airspace above Kosovo and Metohija, Rovcanin says: “If the criteria are quality and expertise personnel, SMATSA is far above the Albanian provider. According to the umbrella organization Eurocontrol, it is also the best provider of services in air navigation in this part of Europe. However, if we were to view the matter through a political prism, the intentions behind such speculations might be that Kosovo is uniting with Albania into one state ‘through the sky’.” The possibility for Kosovo to be entrusted this mandate after the Hungarian mandate expires is unrealistic according to the SMATSA Director, because their capacities are far from the necessary standards, but he says one should never exclude political pressures. He notes that the Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro fully supports the government stand that all disputable issues in the relations with our southern province should be resolved through dialogue while refraining from unilateral moves. The topic of the resumption of flights towards Pristina, which Belgrade wishes to open in the Brussels dialogue, is a smart move according to Rovcanin, since it is in the interest of both sides and all citizens, while SMATSA is prepared to get involved in this job.

REGIONAL PRESS

Is it time for Inzko to use his Bonn powers? (Klix.ba)

Attitude of officials in Republika Srpska (RS) is clear – smaller B&H entity will not respect the decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H, which ordered the entity authorities to harmonize the Law on holidays with the B&H Constitution. The State Constitution is an integral part of the Dayton Peace Agreement and any violation of this provision represents violation of the peace agreement on which is based the political system of B&H. Representatives of the entity of RS unanimously rejected the decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H on the unconstitutionality of the Day of RS, the 9th of January, at the meeting with President of RS Milorad Dodik. The High Representative for B&H Valentin Inzko sent a special report to the UN Security Council in September, in which he stated that RS is violating the Dayton Agreement by adopting decision on calling a referendum on the laws imposed by high representatives, and especially the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H. The OHR announced then that Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement is clearly stating that the High Representative has the final authority when it comes to the interpretation of the agreement regarding the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. The OHR, as well as the Delegation of the EU and the Embassy of United States, agree that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H is final and legally binding, and they had the similar attitude regarding referendum in the RS and realization of constitutional rights of Bosniak children to study on Bosnian language. With his statements regarding the referendum and independence of RS, as well as the statements of non-recognition of the State of B&H and mocking the highest judicial and state institutions, Dodik is not only showing disrespect for B&H for years, but also to the authorities of the International Community. Attitude of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) is that the Bonn powers should not be used until the political problems in our country can be internally solved. It is quite clear from the previous practice that this policy does not influence too much on Milorad Dodik, which is raising the question whether the time for using the Bonn powers has come. Inzko has already used the Bonn Powers several times, and the most important of his moves are the replacement of the Minister of Interior of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Himzo Djonko, the abolition of supervision of Brcko District and the imposition of temporary budget for Mostar. He proactively used the Bonn Powers to ensure the financing of the FB&H as well.

SDA suggests that Mostar becomes the new capital of FB&H (Klix.ba)

The idea to declare Mostar the capital of the FB&H has been actualized again during the visit of Bakir Izetbegovic to Mostar in mid-November. On that occasion, Izetbegovic met with the leader of the Croat Democratic Union B&H (HDZ B&H) Dragan Covic and the new coalition partner Fahrudin Radoncic. The idea to make Mostar the capital of FB&H is 15 years old and the head of the City Board of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Mostar Salem Maric said that the idea was discussed back in 1998. In 1998, the Peace Implementation Council highlighted that they have nothing against Mostar becoming the capital of B&H, given that certain prerequisites must be fulfilled. SDA Mostar considers that those prerequisites have been fulfilled and that the relocation of the capital of FB&H from Sarajevo to Mostar would mean a lot for Mostar. “This way, Mostar would be given an opportunity for faster development, thus also supporting decentralization of authority which is precisely what Bosniaks are often blamed for – the fact that everything is located in Sarajevo. That would be a message that Bosniaks have nothing against relocating the authority in the entire B&H and the FB&H,” said Maric. Izetbegovic believes that relocating the capital of FB&H to Mostar would also contribute to the decrease in interethnic tensions in Mostar. However, everything is still being discussed exclusively within the SDA. Five ministries of the Government of FB&H are already located in Mostar, but these ministries have dual offices in fact, in Sarajevo and in Mostar. It is not known whether the relocation of the capital of FB&H would mean closing all offices in Sarajevo nor what would happen to the employees in Sarajevo. Issue of the capital of FB&H is regulated by the Constitution of FB&H, article 4, which explicitly states that the capital of FB&H is Sarajevo. If the relocation of the capital to Mostar would really start being implemented, that means that the Constitution of FB&H must be changed. Such process requires two-third majority in the Parliament of FB&H, which the coalition SDA, HDZ B&H, Alliance for Better Future (SBB), A-SDA and the Party for B&H (Stranka za B&H) might ensure. It was also agreed at the meeting of party delegations led by Covic and Izetbegovic that the negotiations on resolving the status of Mostar get intensified, in order for the local elections to be held.

French Ambassador to B&H: B&H needs to do more against terrorism and smuggling of weapons (Bosna danas)

The French Ambassador to B&H Claire Bodonyi said that B&H has to keep fighting terrorism decisively, which means that “it has to take into account its own weaknesses.” In her words, there is also a need for B&H to engage more in the fight against weapons smuggling.

“Terrorism has hit the whole world. We had terrorist attacks in Paris, Sarajevo… Russian plane was destroyed in a terrorist act. And we almost forgot Pakistan where hundreds of children died in a terrorist attack. When it comes to B&H, unfortunately, is presented through a lot of the media, including French media, as a risky country. This is also due to lack of knowledge. Western countries do not know B&H well enough and, in this case again, the lack of knowledge about something generates certain fears. There is also information about the village with a Wahhabi community. That makes some people scared.  B&H Security Minister Dragan Mektic is determined to address this issue and this situation must be clarified. The B&H has to keep fighting terrorism decisively, which means that it has to take into account its own weaknesses. Minister Mektic will chair a forum of interior ministers of the Balkans and EU countries to be held in Sarajevo on 7 and 8 December. There is also a need for B&H to engage more in the fight against weapons smuggling because that is also a big problem. It’s not the same thing as terrorism, but these two issues are related. I think that B&H authorities are aware of the need to do more against terrorism and the smuggling of weapons, and I believe they will get involved in international cooperation on these issues.

Montenegro invited to join NATO (RTCG)

Montenegro invited to join the NATO, it was confirmed this morning at the Ministerial meeting in Brussels. “NATO’s open door policy aims at expanding stability, security and democratic values ​​on which the Alliance is based. We are all becoming stronger and more stable by keeping our doors open,” said the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg opening the meeting of foreign ministers of the Member States this morning in Brussels. The foreign ministers have just made the historic decision to invite Montenegro, which will, following the negotiations become 29 members. “We congratulate the government and people on this achievement. This is a very good day for the country, the Western Balkans and for the Alliance. Montenegro has embarked on a unique way to establish the rule of law. We are cooperating with Montenegro since 2009 through the Membership Action Plan,” said Stoltenberg. According to him, in all the years since the country embarked on the path of Euro-Atlantic Integration Alliance has seen a huge Montenegro’s commitment towards the international security. “Today we see concrete results of this commitment. Of course, this is not the end of that road, a significant part of the work still remains, which refers to the adaptation of the defense system, reform of the rule of law and the strengthening of public support. These are issues on which we will continue to work until we open accession negotiations and during the ratification process,” said Stoltenberg. Montenegro’s accession, he said, is an important step in relation to Euro-Atlantic integration of the whole Western Balkans. “This clearly shows the open-door policy of NATO and our vision of a Europe as free and united. That’s why I’m glad that the ministers Igor Luksic and Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic are with us,” said the Secretary General. Luksic said that it is a great honor to address the ministers in a significant moment for Montenegro. “NATO has given us the recognition for the reform of our system. During this process we have been working on a common understanding, and today we are opening a new chapter for a closer relationship with you as future allies. We are proud of what we have done in the past nine years,” said Luksic. He added that he is confident that the invitation is equally important moment for NATO, “because it opened the door for Montenegro. This is a good signal for our neighbors because they will have one more friend in the Euro-Atlantic family.” Montenegro is aware, Luksic said, that the invitation is not the end but the beginning of a new process. “Be sure that we remain fully committed to work as we have been so far. We are ready to work without fatigue and breaks, not to satisfy others but for ourselves. I can assure you that Montenegro, in terms of international security, is already the 29th member of NATO,” said Luksic. He invited all the ministers and the Secretary-General to visit Montenegro on 21^st of May next year and attend the tenth anniversary of its independence. “We want to tell you, that you have made the right decision and that you will be proud of us. This is the beginning of a beautiful alliance,” said Luksic.

Political parties started a dialogue which aims to overcome the political crisis in Montenegro (RTCG)

Parliamentary political entities started a dialogue with the aim to overcome the political crisis and create conditions for fair and democratic elections. The Head of the EU Delegation in Montenegro Mitja Drobnic attended the dialogue initiated by the parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapic, while the leaders of the Democratic Front said they did not participate. The dialogue was also attended by the presidents of the Democratic Party of Socialists, the Socialist People’s Party, Positive Montenegro, DEMOS, Democratic Montenegro, the Civic Movement URA: Milo Djukanovic, Srdjan Milic, Darko Pajovic, Miodrag Lekic, Aleksa Becic,Zarko Rakcevic. The meeting was also attended by the presidents of the Bosniak Party, Forca, Albanian Alternative and Croatian Civil Initiative: Rafet Husovic, Nazif Cungu, Gyorgy Camaj, Marija Vucinovic and the vice president of the Social Democratic Party Rasko Konjevic. Krivokapic has suggested that during the first phase of the dialogue they analyze legislative election regulations and their full implementation, as well as consider other aspects of improving the electoral process in all areas that affect the construction of electoral confidence. The second phase would be the discussions on the legal and political model that would ensure the implementation of agreed solutions.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo, Serbia Failing to Implement Normalisation Deal (BIRN, by Paulina Nushi, 1 December 2015)

Only four out of 17 agreements reached during EU-brokered talks between Pristina and Belgrade aimed at normalising relations have been fully implemented so far, a new report says.

The failure to implement the agreements negotiated so far is causing continued hardship for both Albanians and Serbs living in Kosovo, says the report published on Tuesday by the BIG DEAL initiative which involves BIRN Kosovo, Internews Kosova and the Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture from northern Mitrovica. The report entitled ‘BIG DEAL: Split Asunder’ says that implementation has been slowed by opposition protests that have paralysed parliament in Kosovo, decisions handed down by Kosovo’s Constitutional Court and international crises that have usurped the EU’s attention. “Four-and-a-half years after the start of the dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia still refuse to recognise each other’s diplomas,” said Valerie Hopkins of BIRN Kosovo, the primary author of the report. “[Kosovo’s] draft law on dealing with the cadastral documents to be returned from Serbia has been blocked for two years, without progress, and Kosovars are not yet using [their own international] dialing code despite the fact that two agreements were signed precisely about that,” she said. Dusan Radakovic from the Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture said the agreement to integrate parallel Serb judicial institutions into Kosovo’s justice system has also stalled, leaving a legal vacuum in the Serb-majority north. “The judiciary is the cornerstone of any society. We need the court so northern Kosovo can finally stop being a rule of law vacuum. Once this agreement is implemented fully, it would make it easier to implement other agreements,” said Radakovic. However, the report notes that there has been reduction in the fees charged for crossing the border with a vehicle between Kosovo and Serbia since the first BIG DEAL report was published a year ago. “One year ago, at the first BIG DEAL conference, we asked the Serbian and Kosovo delegations to reduce the cost of travel, because people were paying a lot to insurance companies to cross the border from one neighbouring country to the other. Today I’m very pleased that this cost has been significantly reduced,” said Jeta Xharra, executive director of BIRN Kosovo. The report, based on more than 100 interviews with negotiators at the Brussels talks, local politicians, judges and ordinary people, was conducted over a period of six months in Kosovo and Serbia. It is intended to make the process of normalizing relations more transparent, said Tanja Maksic, programme coordinator at BIRN Serbia. “Lack of accountability in the process, where politicians are using the smallest opportunity to accuse other side for not implementing what was agreed, bring them trivial political points,” said Maksic. At the launch of the report in Pristina on Tuesday, EU Special Representative Samuel Zbogar, Kosovo’s Minister for Dialogue Edita Tahiri and the Serbian liaison officer for Kosovo Dejan Pavicevic spoke about the challenges of implementing the agreements. Zbogar said there is no alternative to the ongoing dialogue but raised concerns about what he said was a lack of transparency surrounding the talks. “To say there is room for improvement in transparency is an understatement,” he said. Tahiri meanwhile accused Serbia of not holding its side of the bargain to close down its parallel institutions in northern Kosovo. “The agreements that aim for Serbia pulling out its structures are only done for show,” she said.

Pavicevic condemned the decision to send the agreement to create an Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo to the country’s Constitutional Court. Opposition parties have repeatedly set off tear gas in parliament in protest against the proposed Association, which they believe gives Serbs in the north too many powers. But Pavicevic said the Association was the most important part of the Brussels agreement. “Without that, I don’t know what the point of the dialogue is,” he said.

Russia’s Lavrov agrees to meet his Turkish counterpart (PanARMENIAN.Net, 2 December 2015)

Russia’s Foreign Minister says he won’t refuse a meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Serbia’s capital this week to hear what Turkey’s explanations on the downing of a Russian air force jet, the Associated Press reports. Sergey Lavrov says he will meet with Mevlut Cavusoglu in Belgrade on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting “to hear what he has to say.” Lavrov says he spoke to Cavusoglu by telephone the day after the Russian aircraft was shot down, but heard only “just some excuses.” Speaking after talks with his Cypriot counterpart on Wednesday, December 2, Lavrov said his country’s aim is to ensure that it doesn’t allow the “overflow” of terrorist threats in Turkey from making their way into Russia.

Bosnian Croats, Serbs Unite Against Foreign Judges (BIRN, by Rodolfo Toe, 2 December 2015)

Croat parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina have joined calls from Serb political leaders urging the reform of the Constitutional Court and the permanent removal of its three foreign judges.

Bosnian Croat parties have joined their counterparts in the country’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpksa in calling for the immediate reform of the Constitutional Court. They are calling for the three foreign judges on the nine-member court to be removed permanently, saying that it gives the international community too much influence over constitutional rulings. “We currently have a situation in which the votes of the three foreign judges are often decisive,” Bozo Ljubic, the president of the Croat National Council, which represents all the Bosnian Croat parties, told BIRN. Ljubic said that no disrespect was intended towards the court’s decisions, but parliament should pass a law eliminating the role of the foreign judges. “Twenty years after the war, Bosnians are ready to take full control of this court,” he said. According to the Bosnian constitution, three out of nine Constitutional Court judges of should be foreign citizens selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights, after consultation with the Bosnian presidency. But it also says that the foreign judges should be appointed for a term of five years, and after that, a new law must be passed to regulate their selection – which has never happened, leading to claims that the foreigners are no longer legitimate judges of the court. “Currently, the court only works on the basis of some internal procedural regulation, since there is a lack of any general law,” a Constitutional Court spokesperson told BIRN. The three votes wielded by the foreign judges, together with the two Bosniak judges on the court, have often proved to be decisive, outvoting the two Serb and two Croat judges. According to the Croatian National Council, the Bosniak and foreign judges have in the past taken decision that went against Croats’ interests. “That was the case, for instance, when we tried to create a national television station in the Croatian language,” Ljubic told a press conference on Monday. “The proposal got the approval of parliament, the Croat representatives in the government supported it, but the law was declared unconstitutional only through or the votes of these five judges,” he said. The Constitutional Court came under strong criticisms from Republika Srpska’s leaders last month when it ruled that the annual Bosnian Serb ‘Republic Day’ public holiday was unconstitutional because it discriminated against non-Serbs. The foreign judges’ votes were also decisive in that ruling. The president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, vowed to hold a referendum on the issue and threatened to withdraw all Serb representatives from state institutions. “They can stick this decision you know where,” Dodik said.

NATO invites Montenegro to join as Russia warns of provocation (DW/AFP/dpa/Reuters, 2 December 2015)

NATO has invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the alliance. The decision is likely to increase tension with Russia just as Germany’s foreign minister has said NATO and Moscow could reopen a dialogue forum.

In a widely anticipated move, NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday and invited the former Yugoslav republic to join the alliance. It’s a step that is likely to increase tension with Russia. “NATO foreign ministers have just taken the historic decision to start accession talks for Montenegro to become the 29th member,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “This is the beginning of a very beautiful alliance.” Joining the alliance entails defense reforms and integration with NATO defense structures, all of which could take several months to complete. All NATO members and the Montenegrin parliament must approve final accession. “We are fully aware that the invitation is not the end of the process, but the beginning of a new one,” Montenegrin Foreign Minister Igor Luksic said after the decision.

Russian opposition

The invitation to open accession talks, the first since 2009 when Croatia and Albania joined, signals that the alliance is still willing to expand despite concern in Moscow that NATO is creeping into what it deems to be its sphere of influence. It also sends the message that Russia does not have a veto over NATO expansion as tensions between the bloc and Moscow remain high due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Responding to the decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the further expansion of NATO to the east could trigger retaliatory measures from Russia. “Moscow has always noted that the continuing expansion of NATO […] to the east cannot but lead to reciprocal actions from the east, that is from the Russian side, in the interests of providing security and supporting the parity of our interests,” Peskov told reporters. Russia has strong tourism and investment ties with Montenegro, which was part of a federation with Serbia, an ally of Moscow. Last week, Russia described Montenegro’s NATO bid as a “serious blow by the Euro-Atlantic bloc,” and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last September that any expansion of NATO was “a mistake, even a provocation.” There are reports Russia has tried to back protests and opposition against Montenegro’s NATO bid, and the Kremlin is likely to attempt to scuttle the NATO process. Showing there may be costs to Montenegro, Russia on Wednesday threatened to cut all joint projects if it joins NATO. Bosnia, Macedonia and Georgia would also like to join the alliance, but their bids have not made enough progress for an accession invitation. A decision on Georgia is likely to be put off for some time due to Russian-backed breakaway states Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Bosnian and Macedonian membership would surround Serbia with NATO states, a major concern for Russia, which fears Serbia could fall into the Euro-Atlantic orbit. Russia has long resented NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, which led for the one-time Serbian province to break away from Serbia.

Restarting NATO-Russia dialogue

NATO and Russia suspended all cooperation following the annexation of Crimea last year and conflict in eastern Ukraine, bringing tensions to their highest level since the end of the Cold War.

On Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggested regular contacts between NATO and Russia could resume. In contrast to the harsh tone taken by Kremlin spokesperson Peskov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavros said Russia would be willing to resume the talks, saying Russia “would listen to what our NATO counterparts have to say.”

Germany has sought to deescalate tension between NATO and Russia over Ukraine and avoid unintended accidents, such as the downing of a Russia jet by Turkey.