NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is calling on western allies to keep up the pressure on Russia over its position on Ukraine.

The outgoing US administration has also stepped up its criticism of Moscow, mulling widening restrictions on Russia - this time over its actions in Syria.

Statements from the recent NATO's foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels got a frosty reception in Moscow. Addressing the gathering, US Secretary of State John Kerry reaffirmed Washington's unwavering commitment to its NATO obligations.

Washington recently said it might consider stepping up sanctions against Moscow over its operations in Syria.

Echoing that rhetoric, the Alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to keep sanctions pressure on Russia over its involvement in Ukraine.

"Sanctions are an important tool to send a very clear message that we don't accept the kind of aggressive behavior, the illegal annexation of Crimea and the destabilizing behavior in eastern Ukraine, which Russia is responsible for," said Stoltenberg.

Some Eastern European countries have expressed concerns over Russia's increased military presence near their borders and the deployment of nuclear-capable missiles to the Kaliningrad enclave. Moscow defended the move as a response to NATO's eastwards expansion.

Russian analysts say relations between Moscow and NATO have recently transformed into a mutual containment policy and may remain strained over issues like Ukraine and Syria.

"The problem is that we don't have a dialogue now. There is an outgoing U.S. administration which everyone is talking to, but no one is seeking to reach an agreement with it," said Vladimir Evseev, deputy head of CIS Institute.

The next NATO Russia Council meeting may be held before Christmas - neither side is ruling it out - but experts say it won't help resolve existing misunderstandings.

"If the United States doesn't change its strategy towards Russia, as Donald Trump announced it may, then probably relations between NATO and Russia will remain at the current level; and in the future, may be limited only to issues of trust-building and averting possible incidents," said Pavel Zolotarev, deputy director of Institute for US and Canadian Studies.

The dialogue between Russia and NATO will continue, though analysts say the two are unlikely to overcome some key disagreements, such as the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. Not at least until the new U.S. President's administration comes in and sets out its foreign policy.