Press conference

James Appathurai (NATO Spokesman): Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary General will make a brief opening statement and then we will have time for questions.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Secretary General of NATO): Thank you for coming. I'm encouraged as chairman of the NATO-Russia Council by the discussions we have had today. They were in the right spirit. They addressed the right issues, and they made it clear that we truly are on a solid path now to improve NATO-Russia relations.

First, all Ministers who spoke made clear their shared desire for us to take concrete and substantial steps to take forward NATO-Russia cooperation. And to focus on practical and pragmatic things we can and should do together.

For example, stepping up our joint support for Afghanistan and our shared fight against narcotics. Fighting terrorism. Fighting piracy.

Second, we discussed how to continue to build security within Europe. On missile defence everyone who spoke shared that view that cooperation between NATO countries and Russia makes sense, and that we need to step it up.

When it comes to conventional arms control as well, there are ongoing discussions in Vienna to take this forward, even if there are areas such as on Georgia or Moldova where we still fundamentally disagree.

But these talks should move forward this year. When it comes to transparency in our security doctrines as well NATO, as you know, we discussed our developing Strategic Concept with Russia already.

And third, we looked forward to a possible NATO-Russia Council Summit in Lisbon. We did have a useful discussion of what the substance might be, and I stress, concrete substance. The joint review of the 21st century’s common security challenges; more cooperation on Afghanistan; more practical cooperation in fighting terrorism or piracy; hopefully, from my point of view, the start of cooperation towards territorial missile defence.

So I think the fundamental message for this meeting was clear, and very encouraging. Today, cooperation with Russia in addressing these challenges is no longer just an opportunity to build better relations with Russia. It has become a necessity if we want to be effective in preserving our common security. And that is a solid foundation from which we can and will move forward.

Q: Mr. Secretary General...

Q: I'm sorry, sorry. Mr. Secretary General... oh sorry. Because Minister Lavrov is not here, can you tell us more in detail what exactly are his concerns after this meeting here? What exactly was discussed? You're talking more about cooperation, but what exactly are the concerns of Russia?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: The concerns of Russia... yes, but actually I think that's for Minister Lavrov to explain, if there are any concerns.

All Ministers around the table expressed their views. The NATO-Russia Council is not NATO against Russia or vice versa. The NATO-Russia Council is 29 Ministers who express their views—Minister Lavrov as well as other Ministers—and of course each and every Minister stresses their particular priorities.

But I can tell you that from... that the general spirit of this meeting was very positive and a reflection of the substantial progress we have made during the last 12, 14 months in our relationship.

Q: (Inaudible), I'm with the German Public Radio. Mr. Secretary General, compared with two years ago, what has been said at that time and by your predecessor about the NATO-Russia relations, it's much more than a climate change. So may I ask you, what exactly caused this change and who is going to take the responsibility to lead to it, or to have led to it? More the NATO, or more Russia, or the symbiose(sic)?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Well, I think it's a combination of several elements and factors, but basically I do believe that all parties realize that we need each other. I think the future of Russia lies within cooperation with the European Union, with NATO. It makes sense from an economic point of view. It makes sense from a security point of view. Together we can move forward.

So I think it is, I would say, a collective will to reach the full potential of a strengthened cooperation between Russia and NATO countries.

Q: Thank you. Russian Radio (inaudible...) Elizabeth Sakharov(ph). My question is about your deploying a missile defence system with Russia in Europe. Are you going to use the radar in Armavir, Armenia in order to settle this shield? And would be the missile defence system of U.S. that's now in Poland be involved? Thank you.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: We have not yet started such detailed technical discussion on how to engage in cooperation on missile defence. But let me remind you that actually we had cooperation between NATO and Russia on so-called theatre missile defence until the spring 2008. We also conducted common exercises as regard theatre missile defence. And I think that's an excellent point of departure for expanding this cooperation.

As you know, we are currently considering within NATO to expand theatre missile defence to be a territorial missile defence. That is, not only to protect deployed troops, but to protect the whole population. And if we do so I think it makes sense to invite Russia to cooperation, also when it comes to territorial missile defence.
And then of course there are a lot of technical details to be elaborated and we will do that in the next phase.

Q: Andrew Quinn from Reuters. A follow-up on that. I'm wondering if you can tell us if the Russians have indicated to you that they are open to this idea of cooperating specifically on resuming the theatre missile exercises and on linking the early warning systems? Do they think that in theory or that's a good idea?
And secondly, in your meetings this morning, could you talk a little bit more about the Georgia-Moldova issue as it relates to CFE, and I'm curious whether or not U.S. plans for Bulgaria and Romania also came up? How large an obstacle are these two issues to actually getting the CFE back up and running?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: We have not requested and not got a final answer from Russia as regards cooperation on missile defence, but I can tell you that we have already initiated discussions and consultations within the NATO-Russia Council. We have already had two meetings on this and we have scheduled yet another meeting next month. So consultations are ongoing.

So I hope to see further progress, and if NATO allies decided to start the development of a NATO-based territorial missile defence system I think such a decision should be accompanied by an invitation to Russia to cooperation.

And then, of course, next phase will be to work out how exactly could such cooperation take place.

We discussed conventional arms control and in that request also situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria. Obviously without finding conclusions there is no reason to hide that these issues are issues where we do not see eye to eye. But I do hope, despite the fact that we have our disagreements in that respect, that we will move forward and see progress as regards arms control.

I don't think we will have final results by November, but hopefully we could agree on some basic principles for future conventional arms control by November.

Q: (SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN)...

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: No, NATO has no intention to replace the United Nations. On the contrary, NATO has as one of our priorities to develop a good cooperation with the United Nations, with the United Nations in the leading role as the overall framework for international security.

Having said that, I can also inform you that NATO operates on UN mandates. Our operation in Afghanistan is based on a UN mandate. Our presence in Kosovo is based on a UN mandate. And in general, NATO operates within the principles of the UN Charter.

So NATO realizes that if we are to accomplish our security mission in today's security environment we have to engage with international partners, major players on the international scene, both individual countries and international organizations as the United Nations. So NATO may operate beyond NATO countries, borders like in Afghanistan, but on a UN mandate, but the implication is not that NATO intends to replace the UN. Our intention is to cooperate closely with the United Nations.

Q: Russia Today TV. Mr. Secretary General, did you discuss the situation in the Central Asia region, mainly the situation in Kyrgyzstan, however both sides have their basis in this country. I mean, maybe some common measures to solve, to repair the situation in this country. Thank you very much.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: No, we didn't discuss Central Asia. We focused on the relationship between NATO and Russia.