The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that Moscow does not intend to invade neighboring countries. Deputy Defense Minister of Russia Alexander Fomin said that Russia expects the resumption of cooperation in the Russia-NATO Council in 2018 or at the extreme in 2019, reports DW. "I am confident that we will restore our relations with NATO and return to the wonderful form of cooperation - the Russia-NATO Council," Fomin said.. "I think that this will happen in the next year or in the next two years, as a last resort," he added..

Also, the Deputy Defense Minister stressed that Russia "in no case" intends to carry out a military invasion in the territory of neighboring states, and joint exercises with Belarus West-2017 are aimed at combating terrorism. As reported by the correspondent. net, West-2017 exercises will be held from September 14 to 20 in Belarus. The US allies in Eastern Europe and Ukraine fear that these exercises may prove to be a "Trojan horse" with which Russia will leave military equipment there. West-2017: the number of military can exceed 100 thousand.

Original article: Russia expects renewal of cooperation with NATO.