The secretary-general of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said here Tuesday that the organization agreed to resume in a “gradual and conditional” links with Russia.

The ties between the Western military alliance and Moscow were cut this year because of the Russian offensive in Georgia in August, leading to protests from European countries and the United States.

According to Scheffer, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the organization’s meeting in Brussels this Tuesday agreed to resume low-level contacts with the Russians, but did not accept reactivate the Russia-NATO Council.

Present at the meeting, the secretary of state in the United States, Condoleezza Rice, said she supports the organization’s efforts to improve ties with Russia, but said that we must carefully monitor the activities Russian.

“There are certain types of activities, such as contacts between military, which seem problematic at a time when there are Russian presence in Georgian territory in breakaway regions”, said Rice.

“We must be very attentive to what the Russians are doing and whether they are fulfilling their obligations.”

Finally it seems that the United States and European countries found that would not be possible to have a balance of forces in Asia and Europe without the inclusion of the Russians.

The world appreciates.

Via: The Guardian.