In Moscow they see opportunities for cooperation with Norway in new format of Russia-NATO relations

In Moscow they see opportunities for deepening cooperation with Norway in the new format of Russia-NATO relations, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Yakovenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti on the threshold of the visit by Foreign Minister of Norway Jan Petersen to Moscow on October 3rd-4th.

According to the diplomat, at the forthcoming talks Igor Ivanov and January Petersen "will compare the stands on the main questions of the regional and international agenda, on which our countries have many points of contiguity." For instance, Norway in its capacity of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council takes an active part in the struggle against international terrorism and in the efforts to settle conflicts, and vigorously helps make progress in the work on the disarmament dossier, Yakovenko pointed out.

He noted that, furthermore, Russia closely interacts with the Norwegians on the Middle East problems and in the questions of post-conflict settlement in Afghanistan.

During the visit particular attention will be paid to strengthening bilateral and multilateral interaction in the field of nuclear and radiation security and military-environmental cooperation in the Arctic, Yakovenko said. Specifically, the course of the talks on preparing a draft agreement on a multilateral nuclear-environmental programme in the Russian Federation and a Russian-Norwegian-U.S. intergovernmental agreement on military-environmental cooperation in the Arctic will be discussed.