MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday to discuss Euro-Atlantic Security, cooperation on Afghanistan and in the context of proposals to create a common European missile-defense system.
"At the meeting Medvedev and Rasmussen will exchange views on the Euro-Atlantic security problems, including Russia's initiative to enter into a European security treaty. There are also plans to discuss bilateral cooperation in the context of the secretary general's proposals to create a common European missile-defense system," a Kremlin source told Interfax on Tuesday.
The meeting will be held ahead of the forthcoming NATO summit and the Russian president's attendance of the NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon on November 19-20. In Lisbon, NATO countries' heads of state are expected to adopt a new NATO strategy that will set the vector for further NATO evolution. The document may also have a significant impact on the entire spectrum of NATO's relations with partners, including Russia.
"Implementation of the principle of indivisible security, recognition by the alliance of its relationship with Russia as a partnership, NATO's willingness to strictly abide by international law, including the United Nations Charter, which regulates the use of force in international relations - all these aspects are important for us," the Kremlin source said. It is important for us to see Russia's security concerns being taken into account and renouncement from the inertial and automatic approach to enlargement, he said.
Particular focus will be on cooperation on "the Afghan track," the Kremlin official said. Under its existing agreements with NATO member states, Russia transits non-lethal cargo and military gear for their forces in Afghanistan. Russia is also actively campaigning for greater joint efforts in countering illicit trafficking of Afghan drugs which pose a real threat to international stability and safety.
The parties will also consider broadening cooperation in responding to the real security threats in a number of practical areas such as exchange of experience in conducting military reforms, peacekeeping missions, countering terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction and piracy, responses to natural and man-caused disasters and so on.