MUNICH (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, Medvedev said in his Munich Security Conference speech that Russia-NATO relations had reached the level of a new Cold War.
"We are not in a new Cold War, I believe, we are dealing with conflicts of a new kind, with new rules, with new conflict structures… As we got it, [Medvedev] wanted to say that we must avoid a situation that can lead us to a cold war," Steinmeier said at the conference.
NATO-Russia relations deteriorated sharply in 2014, following the beginning of an internal conflict in eastern Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia. The alliance accused Russia of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict and began to reinforce its presence in Eastern Europe, in response to what it considers Moscow's aggressive foreign policy.