BERLIN (Sputnik) — NATO Summit in Poland's capital was held on July 8-9 and focused on relations with Russia. During the summit the Alliance decided to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe on a rotational basis with four battalions in Poland and in the Baltic nations.
"There were major concerns that the relations [between Russia and NATO] would worsen after the NATO summit. I think that the Russian side has accepted the fact that the summit had some sort of a dual outcome," Erler said, explaining that on the one hand the Alliance had decided to enhance its presence in Poland and the Baltic states, but on the other it had "offered a hand" to Moscow.
"As a whole, this dual nature of decisions has really been perceived by the Russian side seriously. That's why, from my point of view [we] succeeded to move away from the confrontation and even discuss the de-escalation steps in technical issues," Erler said.
