The main international event for the Security Councils – the annual meeting of high representatives – has been postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexander Venediktov said on August 10.
“We had to take into account the factor of coronavirus and its spread in the world when planning our contacts,” he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The conference of the member states of the Arctic Council was also postponed to the next year, and the meetings of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the SCO and BRICS states were also postponed until the fall, he noted.
If necessary, contacts with foreign partners will be organized via video communication, Venediktov added. “If the global epidemiological situation allows, we plan to intensify the dialogue with foreign colleagues towards the end of the year,” he said.
Earlier, on August 9, Konstantin Kosachev, head of the RF Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, assessed the strengthening of the US military presence in Europe. Kosachev stressed that the responsibility for this situation lies solely with the United States and those European countries that allow the strengthening of the American military contingent in their territories.