Russia-NATO Partnership Relations, Main Condition For Creating A Common Euro-Atlantic Security Space

Moscow proceeds from the fact that creation of a single Euro-Atlantic security space is only possible given the partnership relations between Russia and NATO. This statement was made Thursday by Alexander Yakovenko, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a RIA Novosti interview in connection with a session of the Russia-NATO Permanent Joint Council at the level of foreign ministers scheduled for December 7. According to him, Russia and NATO countries are equally interested in the potential of bilateral cooperation to be fully revealed. Such an approach was confirmed by the two sides in the course of the recent visit by NATO Secretary General George Robertson to Russia, Yakovenko noted. In the opinion of the high-ranking Russian diplomat, the session will be held in conditions of modern international relations, which have undergone cardinal changes. A joint rebuff by the whole civilised humankind to international terrorism "creates objective potential to cast a new glance on the progress of developments in Europe," Yakovenko believes.