Nato's relationship with Russia is cumbersome, but it is better to meet than to let be, says Jens Stoltenberg.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg is ready to meet Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, "if the context is correct."

He says in an interview to the news agency dpa that the dialogue is important in a "difficult" relationship with Russia.

the Nato-Russia relations were strained when the Russian government in the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Ago that Russia supported the prorussiske rebels in the eastern part of Ukraine.

But other cases have also added to the, which has made conversation with Russia difficult. Among other things, that the Russian government earlier this year chose to abandon an agreement from the cold war to prevent the establishment of short-range and c # in Europe.

- I believe in the dialogue with Russia. And therefore - if the consistency is right - then I am of course prepared to meet with president Putin, says Stoltenberg.

I just think that it is better to meet than not to meet, to sit down and discuss. And especially when things are difficult, it is important to sit around the same table, he believes.

/ritzau/