NATO Chief Says Discussed With Lavrov Military Drills, Agreed To Continue Contacts

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he discussed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the alliance's upcoming Trident Juncture 2018 drills at a Tuesday meeting on the UN General Assembly sidelines.

Earlier, Stoltenberg said that they also discussed Poland's plans to host a US military base on its territory.

"NATO and Russia have serious disagreements on a number of issues, which make our dialogue even more important. Today, we discussed military posture and exercises, including Russia�s recent exercise Vostok as well as NATO�s upcoming exercise Trident Juncture," Stoltenberg said, as quoted by his press service's statement.

According to the statement, Stoltenberg also "raised NATO�s concerns about Russia�s ongoing aggressive actions in Ukraine" and expressed the alliance's solidarity with the United Kingdom following the Salisbury poisoning incident.

The NATO chief stressed that they had also "agreed to continue [their] contacts."

Trident Juncture 2018 drills will be held in Norway between October 25 and November 7, with some 40,000 troops from 31 countries participating in the event.