(Reuters) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday (February 17) that the Western alliance is seeing progress on encouraging Moscow to be more open about its military exercises that he says are unpredictable, after holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich.
But disagreements remained, he said, over the crisis in Ukraine, where the West accuses the Kremlin of arming separatist rebels in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since April 2014. Russia says the conflict is a civil war.
“There are well known disagreements between NATO and Russia. I underlined the importance of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, that NATO supports the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told journalists at the Munich Security Conference.
European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is also seeking to destabilise governments and influence elections across Europe with cyber attacks, fake news and propaganda and by funding far-right political parties.
Stoltenberg said that NATO was working to reduce tensions and improve its relationship with Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump also alarmed allies during his campaign for office by breaking with traditional Republican views on the transatlantic relationship, even expressing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Stolteberg warned of an increase in unpredictability and uncertainty but he said that NATO was prepared to respond to a more demanding security environment.