NATO Ministers consult with Partners
After the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO Ministers were first joined by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). They discussed current international security issues such as the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the situation in Kosovo and terrorism.
NRC Ministers also focused on the cooperative projects undertaken in the framework of the NRC. These include the NRC Pilot Project on Counter-Narcotics Training of Afghan and Central Asian Personnel and the Russian participation in the naval counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean Sea.
All 27 Ministers agreed on the value of the political dialogue and practical cooperation which are essential elements of the NRC, in its 6th year of existence.
As the chairman of the NRC, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said “the NRC remains an indispensable forum, where we have our political dialogue and that is exactly what we have done today”.
Deepening cooperation with Mediterranean Dialogue Partners
NATO Ministers proceeded to a working luncheon with their counterparts from the countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue, where they discussed regional security issues and deepening the practical dimension of the Dialogue.
Assessing Ukraine’s progress in achieving reforms
The last session of the day was the NATO-Ukraine Commission. Together with their Ukrainian counterpart, Acting Minister Khandogiy, NATO Ministers assessed progress of the NATO-Ukraine cooperation. They also considered issues related to the Intensified Dialogue on Ukraine’s membership aspirations and relevant reforms.
“Over the last 10 years, NATO and Ukraine have steadily intensified their cooperation in strengthening security and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic area, and achieved concrete results”, said NATO’s Secretary General.