Robertson begins talks in Russia to improve NATO ties

February 16, 2000
Web posted at: 5:55 a.m. EST (1055 GMT)

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MOSCOW -- NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has begun talks in Russia aimed at improving relations between NATO and Russia, which deteriorated after conflicts over Kosovo and Chechnya.

The talks are a sign that both sides want to renew ties and tackle problems that affect the alliance and Russia. The talks could also benefit the international community as a whole, Robertson says.

"I see this as turning a page on past disagreements and turning to new chapters of dialogue and cooperation on matters of mutual interest," Robertson said.

Robertson met with Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev, the Russian defense ministry said. Later, Robertson was to meet Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

While NATO says the NATO secretary-general will meet with Acting President Vladimir Putin, arrangements for that visit have not yet been made public.

Russian newspapers were mostly upbeat about Robertson's visit.

Robertson arrived in Moscow late Tuesday, just 24 hours after agreement was reached on the conditions of his visit following two months of diplomatic discussions.

Robertson said a joint declaration to be issued after the visit would "create a new and substantial basis for progress in the dialogue and cooperation between Moscow and NATO."

Russia froze relations with NATO last year in anger at the alliance's bombing of Yugoslavia over the Kosovo crisis. Moscow has also been irritated by outside criticism of its own military operation in rebel Chechnya.

However, although Russia has been accused of using excessive force in Chechnya, many Western nations seem resigned to the idea that there is not much they can do with regard to the steps Russia has taken in the breakaway republic.

The rhetoric has reached Cold-War pitch at times but both sides now seem ready to patch things up.

"I see this as a kick-starting of the process of cooperation which is vitally important for both East and West in the Euro-Atlantic area just now," Robertson told Reuters in Brussels Tuesday, before leaving for Russia.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, head of international relations at the Russian Defense Ministry, took a similarly broad view in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

"The dialogue between Russia and NATO is being followed not just by European countries," he said. "The whole world is following this."

Ivashov said NATO should face up to what he sees as its mistakes in Yugoslavia and give Russia a broader say. The Russian Foreign Ministry, which diplomats say clashed with the Defense Ministry over the scope of the visit, said the talks would allow a joint analysis of what went wrong last year.

NATO considers its ties with Russia strategically important but does not want to reinterpret the framework of that relationship -- the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, although it sees room for the treaty to be better used. It does not consider it was wrong in Kosovo.

Correspondent Matthew Chance and Reuters contributed to this report.

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