The so-called NATO wisemen arrive in Moscow on Tuesday – a visit that VOR commentator Andrei Ptashnikov hopes will add significantly to the ongoing fence-mending between the alliance and Russia.
The past month has seen the two continue to mend fences, Ptashnikov says, citing a recent visit to Moscow by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who pointed to the necessity of boosting full-blown bilateral collaboration. In another crucial show of warmer ties, the Russia-NATO Council reopened in Brussels late last month, bringing together the Military Chiefs of Staff of Russia and NATO nations.
As for the Council of NATO wisemen, it groups 12 prominent politicians, experts and scientists, headed by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The organization is currently grappling with hammering out NATO’s new strategy until 2025 – a formidable task that is closely watched by Albright, who was also the US envoy to the UN and a member of the US National Security Council in previous years. A hawkish politician, Albright has been repeatedly frustrated over Russia’s foreign policy line – something that saw a major turn-around last year, when Presidents Obama and Medvedev sat down for highest-level talks in Moscow. Remarkably, Albright moved to stick to diplomatic graces when pointing to the necessity of handling nuclear non-proliferation.
For its part, Moscow has frequently urged NATO to do more to add to clinching a follow-on deal to the lapsed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START – a document that is currently being mapped out by Moscow and Washington. With the two already on the edge of inking the accord, Albright’s recent remarks regarding the Russia-NATO ties raised many eyebrows. “Russia and NATO remain partners but Russia should surely refrain from lecturing the alliance”, Alright told reporters late last week. Her stern remarks fly in the face of the ongoing thaw in ties between Russia and NATO, analysts argue, touting Moscow’s ever-increasing role in tackling an array of the most pressing global issues. It only remains to be seen whether Albright will be wise enough to alter her hard-line stance during the Moscow talks, which will , among other issues, focus on striking a Russia-drafted European security treaty. The hope is that Albright will be bright enough to justify her being nominated NATO’s top wisewoman , analysts say, pointing to an absolute consonance between her surname and the word “bright” but for a missing letter.
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