Russia-NATO Joint Permanent Council Meets In Brussels

The meeting of the Russia-NATO Joint Permanent Council will be held on the level of Chiefs of General Staffs in Brussels on Wednesday. General Anatoly Kvashnin, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces arrived in Brussels last night to participate in the meeting. General Kvashnin and NATO sources stressed that the meeting would focus on the development of practical aspects of cooperation, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports. Kvashnin pointed out to the transition from theoretical issues to practical partnership in Russia-NATO relations. According to the General, it concerns the problems of the international security, combating terrorism and strategic stability on the whole. The Chief of the Russian General Staff is to participate in the meeting of the Military Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership and to discuss the training of servicemen and exercises within the framework of the programme "Partnership in the Name of Peace". Kvashnin's agenda includes several bilateral meetings. He is scheduled to meet US General Joseph Rolston, the Commander-in-Chief of NATO allied forces in Europe, German General Harald Kajat, the Inspector-General of the Bundeswehr, new Chairman of the NATO Military Committee elected on Tuesday, and Italian Admiral Guido Venturoni, the acting Chairman of the Committee whose term of office expires in summer 2002.