The NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is arriving in Moscow to meet President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The visit will become a symbolic completion of the effort to improve Russia-NATO relations, which were gravely soured by last year's war in the Caucasus.
Russia-NATO cooperation has actually begun to improve following the election of a new US President and the appointment of a new NATO Secretary-General. Barack Obama described this as "resetting", while Rasmussen said it was a "new beginning" in relations between Russia and the West. So, what does prompt NATO to promote partnership with Moscow? Russia's ambassador at the North Atlantic Alliance Dmitry Rogozin offers his answer to the question in an interview with the Voice of Russia.
The answer is basically the objective interests that the West's leading nations have in settling their security problems, Dmitry Rogozin says. These nations realize that however hard the recently admitted NATO members may speculate on a threat from Russia, such threat is non-existent. And that is why they are trying now to feel for the likely forms of interaction with the Russian Federation. Such major European military powers as Germany, France, Italy, but also, of course, the Untied States, are trying to feel for relations with Russia in the areas where Russia's assistance could prove of major importance. This is, first of all, Afghanistan where NATO has put its reputation on the line. I think the subject will dominate the talks that Anders Fogh Rasmussen is due to have in Moscow. Mr. Rasmussen is arriving in the Russian capital to reach agreement with this country on Russia's assistance for Afghanistan as part of the world community's effort to help the Asian nation.
Dmitry Rogozin went on to say that Afghanistan is a country that Russia has had both relations of long standing and common interests with. So it would be altogether incorrect to claim that Russia would interact with Afghanistan via NATO as a mediator. Russia does have, of course, some common programmes with NATO, such the funding by the North Atlantic Alliance of Afghan drug police force training at the Russian Interior Ministry centre at Domodedovo, near Moscow. Russia has already trained about 1,000 Afghan drug policemen since Moscow is interested in putting an end to what's known as narco- aggression from Afghanistan. Russia is about to start training more Afghans that would fight terrorists threatening transport systems. But as regards all the rest, including assistance for the Afghan security forces, Russia can do without NATO mediation if the Russian leaders make a political decision to provide such assistance, says the Russian ambassador to NATO. In any event, Rasmussen's visit to Moscow will create a favourable political background for future interaction between Russian diplomats and the military and their NATO partners.
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