Media reported the establishment of a hotline NATO – Russia – RBC

North Atlantic alliance for the first time after the end of the Cold War is organizing a straight line with the Russian military commanders, writes May 3 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, citing a source in the organization. “NATO and Russian military authorities will maintain communication channels,” – said the source publication. According to him, access to direct negotiations with Moscow will receive Allied forces in Europe and NATO’s Military Committee Chairman of the alliance. It is assumed that the communication channels are always open and subject to constant verification.

The interlocutor of the newspaper did not specify when the system is activated. The operation is classified as secret. In this edition it has found out that the Russian side has already received contact numbers.

The initiative to establish a direct link NATO and Russian military authorities owned German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In December last year amid rising tensions over the crisis Ukrainian head of the German Foreign Ministry called for measures “that the conflict has not gone out of control and did not lead to military escalation.” “We need some channels to check what messages are true and which are not” – said Steinmeier. He also expressed concern over the reduction of contacts between the military: since NATO suspended cooperation with Russia, the parties left little opportunity to exchange information on military training flights and long-range aircraft.

With the growing intensity of the crisis in Ukraine, the North Atlantic alliance froze military contacts with Russia and strengthen its presence in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.

After the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States has a direct teletype communications, dubbed “red phone”. “Red Phone” is considered one of the symbols of the Cold War and the first result of an agreement between the two powers for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

The first four years of a straight line is not used. The first teletype took the 36th president of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967 during the Six Day War, the White House got in touch with the Kremlin to avoid accidental confrontation of naval forces of the two countries. In 1973, during another Arab-Israeli conflict, “red phone” used the next American leader Richard Nixon. Then the Soviet and American sailors were close to each other.