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Good afternoon and welcome to this first ministerial meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. Twenty Defence Ministers are gathered today as equal partners around this table -- only ten days after our Heads of State and Government brought into existence this new NATO-Russia Council.
I have often been asked why meeting at 20 is so very different from meeting at 19+1. Well, let me assure you it makes a big difference.
It is not just that our friend Sergey Ivanov is sitting over there between Spain and Portugal.
It is that now Russia, in this Council, is the same as every other country.
Our preparations for this meeting have been done at 20, and this has required a completely new cooperative mindset.
All twenty countries have shown remarkable flexibility and remarkable determination to get this new Council off on the right foot - which means delivering substance, working together, addressing the issues which are in front of us.
As Chairman of this Council, I gave a commitment in Rome that I would do my best to make this new body work, and work well. I know that all twenty countries are equally determined.
Today is our first opportunity to start implementing the decisions of the Heads of State and Government of NATO member states and Russia. Expectations are very high, but I am confident that together we shall rise to the challenge.
Our job is to work together in areas of common interest, and to stand together against common threats and risks to our security, such as terrorism. Terrorists around the world should make no mistake about the strong resolve of the countries represented around this table.
This afternoon we shall review the defence and military priorities for our cooperation - from the struggle against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to search and rescue at sea and theatre missile defence, without forgetting at any time crisis management and our cooperation in the Balkans. Defence Ministers will give clear and specific directions to the NATO-Russia Council to move ahead deliberately in all these areas.
When Heads of State and Government in Rome opened a new chapter in Euro-Atlantic relations, it was not just words and niceties. They meant business. So do we.
Let me now give the floor to Minister Sergey Ivanov for his opening remarks in front of the cameras to mark this occasion.