Grushko: `Russia-NATO Council focuses on important issues`

The Russia-NATO Council’s ambitious cooperation program for 2013 stipulates meetings between the foreign ministers and military chiefs of staff, a security conference in Moscow with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expected to attend, and lots of other events. Despite continuing speculation that the Russia-NATO Council’s format is outdated, cooperation is proceeding quite successfully, said Alexander Grushko.

"As for common threats and how we should react to them, here cooperation with NATO is moving in the right direction. Real progress has been achieved in combatting sea piracy, nuclear proliferation and terrorism, and also as regards the situation in Afghanistan. A project called Cooperative Airspace Initiative has been launched. Two years ago, joint military exercises involving Air Force units from Russia and NATO member states were successfully held. This year, we are planning joint naval drills in the Black Sea region with combat aviation taking part. That is a real contribution to bolstering security."

Other cooperation priorities include transit support for the international troop pullout from Afghanistan. The so-called "northern transit” route through a base in Ulyanovsk in central Russia will be a key transit artery for NATO cargo moving out of Afghanistan. There is also the so-called helicopter project: Moscow pledged to supply MI-17 helicopters for the Afghan army and provide technical training. Russia and NATO cooperate against drug trafficking and terrorism in the region. As for other spheres, here cooperation potential will depend on the nature of the NATO mission in Afghanistan after 2014. Alexander Grushko:

"The latter issue is shifting atop the Russia-NATO Council’s agenda. There are two things that matter to us. First, it is necessary to preserve a reliable legal basis for cooperation. It’s important to Russia that the future operation should be approved by the UN Security Council. Second, there should be a clear understanding of the strategic tasks the international community intends to work on in Afghanistan."

The Kremlin favors pragmatic cooperation with NATO across a wide range of spheres. But NATO seems unprepared for equal cooperation, which hampers agreements in many areas, including the European missile defense. The alliance’s expansion is another sore point between NATO and Russia. Alexander Grushko:

"We think that the expansion project has fully exhausted itself. Actually, it doesn’t solve any security problems but just creates more dividing lines and unnecessary political tensions in Europe. Also, we see that the alliance’s military machine is approaching Russia’s borders, and it’s a factor we have to take into account while planning our defense strategy. And we will take every political and military measure to neutralize those threats."

In March, NATO is entering a new phase. In line with the decisions made at the Chicago summit, NATO is no longer an operation alliance but an alliance for the accumulation of potentials. Alexander Grushko believes that much will depend on whether NATO will be able to integrate itself into collective security building efforts or, as has often happened before, will attempt to impose unilateral solutions and sidestep international law.