From the event

14 June 2007

New Russian Minister looks
to cooperation with NATO

A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, 14 June, provided an opportunity for NATO Ministers to hold their first formal discussions with the new Russian Defence Minister, Anatoly Serdyukov.

He said that Russia was looking forward to continuing cooperation with NATO on joint projects, including combating drug trafficking from Afghanistan, counter-terrorism in the Mediterranean, and military exercises.

Minister Serdyukov confirmed Russian interest in becoming more ambitious in our defence and military cooperation programme and the Allies want to be equally ambitious,” NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

‘Satisfied with atmosphere’

The meeting also provided an opportunity to for political discussions on the major issues on the Euro-Atlantic security agenda, including missile defence and the CFE Treaty.

You would not have expected from this meeting that all outstanding differences of opinion have now been resolved, “ the Secretary General said, “But I am quite satisfied with the atmosphere and tone in today’s meeting, we need professional dialogue, we need civilized debate and this is exactly what we had today.

Mr. De Hoop Scheffer also said both NATO and Russia agreed there was scope for continuing cooperation on developing a theatre missile defence system to protect troops deployed on missions.

The meeting comes just before events in St. Petersburg and Moscow to mark the 10th anniversary of the NATO-Russia partnership and the 5th anniversary of the NATO-Russia Council.