MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will establish a new format of relations with NATO this spring "to bring them to a higher quality level," a high-ranking Moscow-based military diplomat told Interfax-Military News Agency on Monday.
"A document on the "20" format will be initialed by the parties in Reykjavik at a session of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council on the level of foreign ministers in mid-May, and will be signed by the heads of the 20 nations at the summit in Rome later," the diplomat said.
The document "will for the first time register that Russia and NATO are discussing a certain problem, such as terrorism, situation in Afghanistan or the Middle East, on an equal basis," the diplomat noted.
"By establishing a closer political partnership with NATO, Russia somehow helps the alliance to survive and acquire a new image. It is necessary at least because it will help a situation similar to what we saw in Kosovo," he said.
The diplomat noted that "there is no consensus within NATO as far as a new format of relations with Russia in the "20" framework is concerned." "The largest members of the alliance have spoken in favor of it, and their opinion is crucial," he stressed.