Bucharest - NATO's leaders discussed with Russian President
Vladimir Putin possible avenues of cooperation at a meeting
in Bucharest on Friday which was seen as giving the two sides the
chance to bury the hatchet.
'Today our relations are truly multifaceted, influenced both by
political realities and issues on which we differ, as well as by
practical and very pragmatic common interests,' said NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the start of the talks.
'Our meeting this morning will take stock of our commonalities. We
will also seek ways to intensify the process of finding political
common denominators on the issues on which we do not agree,' he
added.
The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was established in 2002 as a means
of fostering mutual understanding.
But relations between NATO and Russia have progressively worsened
since, reaching one of their lowest post-Cold War points over the
past year.
Disagreements cover a variety of issues, including Kosovo and
NATO's willingness to extend its reach eastwards.
But Moscow was mollified on the eve of the NRC by the alliance's
decision not to give membership plans to Georgia and Ukraine for the
time being.
The Kremlin was likely to be less pleased with Thursday's
announcement that the United States and the Czech Republic had
reached an agreement to site elements of a US anti-ballistic-missile
system on Czech soil.
The radar in the Czech Republic, which the US says is intended to
protect the West from rogue states such as Iran, will be part of any
future NATO missile defence system.
The Kremlin objects to the US plan, arguing that it poses a threat
to its own security and deterrent capability.
And yet, the Russian media on Friday were busy emphasising the
positives of NATO-Russia joint action rather than the negatives of
West-East acrimony.
'Whatever we say, the role of NATO as a stability-securing
organization objectively exists,' Russian news agency Itar-Tass
quoted a high-ranking Kremlin official as saying.
'We proceed from the fact that more close, open and equal
cooperation with NATO answers Russia's interests,' the official
added.
One place where cooperation is particularly cherished by the
alliance is in Afghanistan.
Under a deal that was expected to be formalised at the NRC, the
Kremlin is to agree to allow NATO to use Russian territory to deliver
non-lethal goods to its military bases in Afghanistan.
The two sides are already helping each other out in Afghanistan in
the fight against illegal drugs, with Russian counter-narcotics
experts training local personnel.
Friday's NRC was taking place in Bucharest's Palace of the
Parliament, a monstrous 330,000-square-metre mansion built during the
regime of former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
It was the first to be attended by Putin and the last by his US
counterpart, George W Bush.
The two leaders were due to meet again in the Black Sea resort of
Sochi over the weekend.
USA
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