NATO, Russia Envoys to Meet Next Week

BRUSSELS (AP) -- NATO says its ambassadors will meet with Russia's envoy next week amid rising tensions over the future of a landmark missile agreement and as the alliance conducts large-scale military exercises near Russia's western border.

NATO headquarters said Friday that they would meet in a NATO-Russia Council — their main forum for dialogue — at the military alliance's Brussels headquarters on Oct. 31.

NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula but has kept channels open for such meetings and for military-to-military cooperation.

The NRC has met eight times in the last two years but agreeing its agenda has proven a challenge. No agenda was announced for Wednesday's meeting.

(KA)