NATO and Russia to meet, but grievances remain

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to delegates of the Russian Engineering Union congress in Moscow, Russia, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Maximov/Pool

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russian and NATO envoys are unlikely to ease the worst tensions since the Cold War very much when they meet on Wednesday in their highest-level talks on security in almost two years.

Already bridling at NATO's expansion eastwards into its old Soviet sphere of influence, the Kremlin sees the U.S.-led alliance's new deterrents as a threat. NATO believes Moscow's annexation of Crimea puts Europe's stability at risk and is modernising to defend itself against an assertive Russia.