BRUSSELS. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The duties of Russia's newly appointed special representative for liaison with NATO in missile defense affairs include discussing the "configuration" of the future missile defense and potential ways of distributing responsibilities between parties to the process, the Russian permanent mission to NATO said on Saturday.
The mission mentioned in a press release that, at a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Friday, President Dmitry Medvedev announced that he had instituted the post of special representative for liaison with the North Atlantic alliance in missile defense affairs and that he had entrusted the position to Russia's permanent envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin.
Rogozin's tasks include setting up an interagency working group to coordinate Russia's cooperation with NATO in building a Euro-Atlantic missile defense. The release quoted Medvedev as saying the group would have to "take all necessary steps to ensure that our country makes what is the optimum security choice for it."
Medvedev's decision was based on ideas stated at the Lisbon summit of the NATO-Russia Council, the release said.
Russia seeks to help create a modern security architecture for the Euro-Atlantic space on the basis of indivisibility and equality principles, it said.
Russia's planned participation in building Europe's future missile defense means the system would not be based on inter-bloc confrontation but would protect all European nations, the release said.