Germany Supports Dialogue With Russia in Accordance With NATO's Policies- Foreign Ministry

"NATO keeps its hand outstretched to Russia. Within the existing NATO decisions, Germany is in favour of keeping a window for dialogue with Russia open and making talks substantial. But Russia should contribute to this as well", the official said.

Russia and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty will be discussed at the alliance summit held Monday and Tuesday in London, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said last week. He also noted that Russia is not an immediate threat to any member of the bloc, but a challenge for the alliance.

Despite that, many countries repeatedly cite alleged Russian threat as a pretext to boost their military spending or use the idea for other internal issues.

At the same time, Moscow raised concerns over NATO's expansion further to the east, as well as over plans to develop military equipment meant for space, which could lead to a new arms race.