NATO and Russia move forward the Lisbon agenda

“Our meeting in Berlin today is an important stepping stone on the way to the true strategic partnership we pledged to develop together in Lisbon. Day by day we are building this modernised relationship for the 21st Century, because we know that by acting together, we can do more for international security,” said the chairman of the NRC, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Maintaining the NRC tradition of active political consultation on current international issues, ministers discussed the situation in Libya. All participants stressed the need to implement fully the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

NATO and Russia also exchanged views on the situation in and around Afghanistan. The security of this country is vital for all NRC members. In a sign of their joint commitment to increased stability in Afghanistan, ministers set in motion the NRC Helicopter Maintenance Trust Fund. This facility, jointly funded by NATO Allies and Russia, will provide vitally-needed maintenance and repair capacity to the Afghan security forces’ helicopter fleet.

Ministers also made progress in other areas implementing the Lisbon Summit agenda. They approved an updated NRC Action Plan on Terrorism, which strengthens practical cooperation in a shared fight against terrorism.

Finally, ministers also discussed missile defence, giving further guidance to the ongoing work on outlining the future framework for missile defence cooperation between Russia and NATO. They agreed that this work should be taken forward energetically and looked forward to the discussion which NRC defence ministers will have in June.

The Secretary General described the agenda of the debate as "a testimony to our growing cooperation to face common challenges: from the stability of Afghanistan to piracy, proliferation and terrorism”.