After months of tension, military and political cooperation between Russia and the NATO resumed. “This is a new start for relations between Russia and NATO,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Stein Meier. He hoped that the new cooperation will also cover the issues in the Middle East and the disarmament of nuclear and conventional weapons.
“We had a very frank discussion,” declared Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, while speaking of the useful meeting on the Greek island of Corfu that likewise touched on the Georgia conflict.
NATO head Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov jointly announced that political and military ties would be resumed between NATO and Russia following a ten month lapse.
It is in relation to Georgia where ‘fundamental differences’ between the Atlantic Alliance and the government in Moscow lie. However, such ‘conflict did not serve as a ‘stumbling stone’ because both parties agree that many other issues in the NATO-Russia meeting were able to be discussed. The differences over the Georgia conflict, though, remain unresolved between the two parties.
The cooperation will initially cover the fight against terrorism, piracy, and drug trafficking. The military cooperation will see joint efforts in combating piracy and terrorism, as well as possible Russian assistance in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Via Yahoo! News
