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.