29-30 Oct 2003

NATO-Russia cooperation vital to security says Robertson News 29/10/2003 - NATO Secretary General of NATO to visit Russia Background NATO-Russia relations Opinions 30/10/2003 - NATO Does Russia need NATO, and if so, what kind of NATO? - Speech by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson in Moscow Multimedia 29/10/2003 - NATO High resolution photos of the visit to Russia of NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson NATO and Russia need each other to meet today's new security threats, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson said during his farewell visit to Moscow, on 29 and 30 October. Lord Robertson met for talks with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, and members of the Duma, the Russian Parliament. The Secretary General also visited a Russian military unit, the 27 th Motorised Brigade at Tyoplyy Stan, near Moscow . This was the first time that a NATO Secretary General met with rank and file Russian troops. NATO has calculated that we are safer and stronger in dealing with today's threats if we have Russia firmly on our side, said Lord Robertson in a speech to an international conference on NATO-Russia relations, held in Moscow on the occasion of his visit, Russia has reached the same conclusion . This pragmatic self-interest is the strength of NATO-Russia cooperation, he said, even if there are differences on certain issues, such as on NATO enlargement, the situation in Chechnya, or misunderstandings on strategies and doctrines from time to time. Lord Robertson stressed the fact that cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council is delivering concrete results, pointing to recent agreements and cooperation on intelligence assessment of terrorist threats, theatre missile defence, submarine crew escape and rescue, and joint civil emergency planning exercises. This is an agenda of practical cooperation that no one would have dared dream of just a few years ago , he said. The Secretary General paid special tribute to President Putin for his role in developing this new cooperation, and invited him to attend next year's NATO Summit in Istanbul.