Russia called on NATO to stop conducting military exercises during the celebration of Victory in the Great Patriotic war,
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters.
"We have appealed to European countries to abandon active exercises during this period", the diplomat said, in particular, commenting on the cancellation of the European exercises of the Defender 2020 Alliance in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.
Against the background of the pandemic, as Grushko stressed, the tools of international cooperation, including military contacts, are becoming particularly popular.
The US European exercise Defender 2020, which was supposed to be the largest strategic maneuvers in Europe since the end of the cold war, has been stopped, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg said on March 19.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP / TASS