MOSCOW. June 13 (Interfax) - The NATO-Russia Council is not currently functioning as a mechanism, and there are no prospects for getting the dialogue between Moscow and NATO back on track, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper published on Thursday.
"It is possible to say that the NATO-Russia Council exists only on paper, it is not functioning as a mechanism at the initiative of the bloc, which took a whole series of steps to, first, remove all elements of cooperation from our relations in 2014 and, second, to create unbearable and unacceptable conditions, without any exaggeration, for our diplomats' work," Grushko said.
"As for formal channels of communication, our ambassador to Belgium, Alexander Tokovikin, has been tasked with contacting NATO via the hotline should such a need arise. And the bloc has been notified of that," he said.
"There are no prospects today for restoring any substantive dialogue," Grushko said.
"There are several reasons for that: the first reason is that NATO declared the Russian Federation a direct and immediate threat to the alliance. [...] All steps NATO is taking in this field today, to put it straight, are preparations by the alliance for a possible military collision with Russia. [...] And, lastly, if we call things by their proper name, the alliance has unleashed a hybrid war against the Russian Federation. Thousands of illegitimate sanctions have been introduced against our country in the economy," he said.