NATO chief wants strong defence as basis for ties with Russia: NATO wants a constructive relationship with Russia but for that to happen it must engage Moscow from a position of strength, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
The US-led military pact had helped ensure stability in Europe, he said, but now, with its intervention in Ukraine, Russia was "trying to roll back the progress we have made".
Nonetheless, whatever the problems caused, the fact remained that "both NATO and Russia are here to stay. So we simply cannot ignore each other," Stoltenberg told the German Marshall Fund think-tank.
"One way or the other, we will have a relationship. The question is what kind."
Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian premier who took the NATO helm earlier this month with the Ukraine crisis top of the agenda, said his experience proved it was best to deal with Moscow from a position of strength.
