NATO tells Russia to stop meddling, in first talks since Skripal case

NATO told Russia to put a stop to its "malign activities" against the alliance as the two sides met Thursday for their first political talks since the nerve agent attack on a former Kremlin double agent in Britain.

The 29 members of the US-led alliance delivered a "strong, unified message" to Russia, US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said, to end its interference in Ukraine and drop its campaign of disinformation and cyber attacks.

Relations between NATO and Moscow have plunged to post-Cold War lows in recent years over Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, its suspected attempt to assassinate former spy Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury and what the alliance says is a sustained campaign of destabilisation waged by the Kremlin.

"In a meeting today @NATO, Allies shared a strong, unified message to Russia: Stop interfering in Ukraine & cease malign activities that seek to divide our Alliance," Bailey Hutchison said in a tweet.

The three-hour meeting was the seventh of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) in the last two years, held for the first time at the alliance's brand-new headquarters in Brussels, which a NATO diplomat described as an "open exchange".

"During today's meeting, NATO allies addressed Russian attempts to influence both allied and partner countries, using a range of military and non-military techniques," the diplomat said.

"NATO allies expressed their deep concern over a wide range of issues, including cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and interference in national elections." - 'Dangerous pattern' -