In January, US media reported, citing unnamed officials, that NATO was considering possibly inviting Russia to hold formal talks for the first time since the deterioration of NATO-Russia relations in 2014.
"Everything that is suggested in the near future is to hold a Russia-NATO Council meeting on the level of foreign ministers, and I think this will happen," Antonov told journalists, adding that the meeting would be between permanent envoys.
He added that the Russian Defense Ministry had expressed hope that the meeting would be a signal for NATO to think about the future of its cooperation with Moscow.
According to Antonov, there is no contact between Russia and NATO at the moment.
The work of the NATO-Russia Council was suspended on April 1, 2014, after the alliance's foreign ministers issued a statement condemning Crimea's reunification with Russia, which the West largely regards as an "annexation."
