NATO To Sign Accord With Russia In Ex-Soviet First

SPACEWAR

File photo of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Vilnius, Lithuania (AFP) Apr 21, 2005
NATO is to sign a landmark military cooperation accord with Russia on Thursday, highlighting progress in strengthening their ties at a first-ever ministerial meeting of the alliance on ex-Soviet soil.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with his NATO counteparts including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for talks in Vilnius, capital of one of three ex-Soviet republics which joined the alliance last year.

Other key items on the menu of the two-day informal talks also include the future of alliance missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo - as well as reflection on a possible NATO role in the Middle East.

The "status of forces agreement" between NATO and Moscow will make it easier for the two sides to organize joint exercises and training and, for example, allowing NATO troops to transit through Russian territory and vice versa.

NATO officials call the accord a "milestone" in relations with Moscow, which were transformed by the geopolitical changes after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

A spokesman said the accord, which will have to be ratified by the Russian Duma before entering into force, could for example be used to cover NATO troops heading for Afghanistan, where the alliance heads a peacekeeping force.

The signature came at two-day informal talks among NATO foreign ministers which began over dinner late Wednesday with a debate on the Middle East.

Specifically, presentations on the issue were made by Rice and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos, who said they would broach "a possible role for NATO and how it could help the peace process."

The issue touches on sensitive diplomatic areas: France has already made it clear it would oppose any significant NATO role in the Middle East, saying the alliance has "no vocation" in the peace process.

More broadly the ministers are debating a US-backed plan to give NATO - which was nearly torn apart by the 2003 Iraq war - a bigger role as a forum for political dialogue.

The US secretary of state arrived in Vilnius direct from the Russian capital, where she criticized Russia's democratic record but called Moscow a "strategic partner."

Rice, as well as attending the talks with her Russian counterpart Thursday, will also sit in on a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.

The former Soviet republic has sent feelers out about eventual membership in NATO after last year's "Orange Revolution," which fueled tensions between Moscow and the West after pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko won the presidency.

Rice on Wednesday notably said it was "time for change" in another ex-Soviet republic, Belarus, following those in Ukraine and Georgia. Those comments may give food for thought in her talks with Lavrov on Thursday.

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SPACEWAR

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Washington (UPI) Jul 21, 2004
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