NATO Secretary General: Moscow Talks Are Purely Preliminary

George Robertson, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, said that the talks in Moscow with the Russian president, defense and foreign ministers and secretary of the Russian Security Council are of a purely preliminary character. The NATO chief said this to journalists on Friday after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. He said it is yet too early to talk of what configuration will be the mechanism of Russia-NATO interaction. Noting that there are several versions of further interaction, he stressed that all of them will be thoroughly considered. After that it will be determined how much they can be successful in practice. The NATO secretary general recalled that there are several suggestions on further cooperation between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance. He also reported that only recently one more proposal has arrived from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He actually backed proposals from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and American President George W.Bush. The most important thing is the emergence of new relations between Russia and NATO, and this is more important than the establishment of whatever new body, stressed George Robertson.