NATO says Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will meet with Russia's foreign minister for the first time this week, at a time when relations between Moscow and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, the Associated Press reports.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Tuesday, Feb 3, that Stoltenberg and Sergey Lavrov, the Kremlin's top diplomat, will hold bilateral talks during the Munich security conference, a three-day gathering of foreign and security officials from around the world that begins Friday.

It will be Stoltenberg's first meeting with Lavrov since he became secretary-general of the U.S.-led NATO alliance in November.

Stoltenberg's deputy on Monday said "Russia's aggression against Ukraine" has been a game-changer for NATO and European security. Meanwhile, Moscow has accused NATO of operating a "foreign legion" in Ukraine.