Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee General Petr Pavel have held negotiations on NATO’s initiative for the first time after the relations with Russia were frozen, TASS reported quoting Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The sides discussed the issues of security, the prospects of restoring military interaction, the prevention of incidents and the participation of the alliance’s representatives in international events held by Russia’s Defense Ministry.

“On March 3, 2017, on the initiative of the NATO side, Chief of Russia’s General Staff - First Deputy Defense Minister Army General Valery Gerasimov has held a telephone talk with Chairman of the NATO Military Committee General Petr Pavel. This is the first high-level military contact after the NATO Council made a decision on the freeze of relations with Russia,” the ministry’s press office said.