The second of three diplomatic engagements scheduled this week between Western powers and Russia yielded no meaningful breakthroughs on Wednesday, but appeared to buy some time for NATO allies still wary of a Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking in Brussels after a four-hour meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the talks between the 30 NATO members and Moscow were "not easy," and that the risk for armed conflict in Europe remained "real."  .

There are significant differences between NATO allies and Russia on these issues," Stoltenberg said. .

delegation to the talks and spoke at a separate press conference, said NATO allies proposed a number of areas where dialogue with Russia could continue, including on increasing the transparency of military exercises, reducing space and cyber threats, and addressing arms control and nonproliferation. .

The Russian delegation said it was "not ready" to commit to future talks, Stoltenberg said, but indicated a "general willingness" to continue diplomatic engagement.

There was also no indication that Russia would draw down its troops along the Ukrainian border, Sherman said

and NATO have for weeks dismissed that and other demands made by the Kremlin, while expressing an openness to engagement on other security issues, including arms control. 

NATO's Stoltenberg also said Wednesday that the alliance proposed reopening, without preconditions, both the NATO office in Moscow and Russia's mission to NATO, both of which were shuttered in October following a dispute over what NATO called "undeclared Russian intelligence officers." 

The third and final diplomatic session this week will take place on Thursday in Vienna, where a group of 57 nations comprising the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) — including the United States, Russia and Ukraine — will meet for wide-ranging talks.