NATO is likely to increase its dialogue with Russia in 2018, the alliance chief said in an interview with Deutsche-Presse-Agenteur (dpa).

"I expect there will be more meetings and also more use of these direct military lines of communication," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"So we are moving forward both on the political dialogue and the military lines of communication, and the whole alliance is behind that," he added.

Stoltenberg stressed the importance of keeping open channels of communication with Moscow.

"We need to address the fact that we see a more assertive Russia to the east," he said. "At the same time NATO's message is that we don't want a new Cold War. We don't want a new arms race and we want political dialogue with Russia."

"This dialogue is not easy," Stoltenberg added, while noting: "Russia is our neighbor and Russia is there to stay."