NATO general, Russia military chief hold phone call -Stoltenberg

The head of NATO's military committee recently held a telephone call with the chief of the Russian general staff, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

Petr Pavel, who heads NATO's military committee, said last month he hoped to hold the first telephone call in more than two years with Russia's military chiefs in coming weeks.

Stoltenberg said Pavel spoke by phone with the chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Tensions have been rising between Russia and NATO.

"And when tensions are high it's even more important that we talk together and that we have open lines of military and political communications," Stoltenberg told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting to discuss the fight against Islamic State.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)