NATO Statement Points Out Role Of Russian-Ukrainian Cooperation

A special anti-terrorist statement issued by defence ministers of NATO member states on Tuesday, December 18 in Brussels points out the role of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation. The document identifies the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA as "an attack on all allies" and stresses that the first case of bringing into action Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which deals with collective security, "proved that the alliance's global approach to security issues includes the possibility of collective response to a foreign terrorist attack on one of the allies." At the same time, NATO's relations with Russia, Ukraine and other members of the Euroatlantic Partnership Council have helped set up an organisation of countries that are "bound together by cooperation and unanimous in their condemnation of terrorism." These relations have already proved their worth in the Balkans and are extremely important in the effort to combat terrorism, reads the statement. Defence ministers of NATO countries also express their intention to deepen relations with partners in Central Asia and the Caucasus.