6-7 July 2005

NATO-Russia Council seminar on nuclear doctrine and strategy Background NATO's nuclear forces NATO-Russia relations Multimedia Group photo of the participants (JPG/181kb) NRC Conference June 2004 - Slovenia Lessons learned from recent terrorist attacks: Building national capabilities and institutions Nuclear experts from Russia and NATO member countries gathered in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, 6-7 July for a NATO-Russia Council (NRC) seminar on nuclear doctrine and strategy. Representatives from ministries of defence and foreign affairs, national delegations to NATO, as well as NATO International Staff and Military Authorities had the opportunity to gain greater insight into the role of nuclear weapons in NATO's nuclear strategy as well as in the national doctrines and strategies of NRC nuclear weapon states. France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States presented summaries of their respective nuclear doctrines, as did NATO within the framework of the Alliance’s Strategic Concept. Participants also exchanged views and opinions on nuclear policy issues, clarifying specific points and generally helping to improve understanding of these issues among themselves. Cooperation on nuclear weapon issues A similar event on nuclear weapon safety and security was held in The Hague, The Netherlands, in April 2002, by the NATO-Russia Council. Since then, NATO-Russia cooperation in this field has been extended with the organisation of a series of nuclear weapon accident response field exercises. The first – AVARIYA 2004 – was held in Russia in August 2004 and the next one – SENATOR 2005 - will be hosted in the United Kingdom in September 2005.