NATO and Russia must maintain dialogue, Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas noted.

The NATO-Russia Council was created in 2002 to facilitate consultations between the Western military alliance and Moscow, but the council last met in July 2019, Reuters reports.

According to him, the ball is in Moscow's hands.

He did not elaborate on what steps he believed Russia should take to improve the dialogue, but said the Council offered an opportunity for an intensive and confidential exchange of views on security policy issues.