Between NATO and Russia, a peaceful game?

(BRUSSELS2) It's not yet mad love or solid friendship. But between Russia and the Atlantic Alliance, the time for public apostrophes and harsh words seems to be over…until next time. Before the meeting of the Alliance's Defense and Foreign Affairs Ministers (Thursday, April 19), several telephone exchanges took place, in particular between Rasmussen and Lavrov. What " leads to believe - according to a Western diplomat - that the Russians want to manage their relationship with NATO in a (more) pragmatic way ". The time for invectives and major media releases seems to be over, at least for the moment. The tone seems different from what we heard "during the campaign confirms our interlocutor.

The fact that there is no NATO-Russia summit in Chicago is even rather a good sign, according to our interlocutor. Everyone (the 29 - 28 of NATO + Russia) judged that it was not opportune to have a NATO-Russia summit in Chicago; Russia did not ask for it or comment publicly that it did not stand. In short, it is low profile in the dissensions. It doesn't seem like that anymore when Yeltsin turned Primakov's plane around, the prime minister heading for Washington, to publicly protest against the intervention in Kosovo.

Cooperation projects with the Russians

The differences certainly continue to exist between the two parties: on the anti-missile shield in particular. " They are not going to reduce overnight. (But) this does not prevent progress on other subjects ».

Are thus on the program: the fight against terrorism, against piracy, technical cooperation projects such as the fight against explosive devices in open environments, the initiative on renegade planes (taken hostage). And above all transit through Afghanistan, a vital point for the Allies in the withdrawal phase, with the establishment of a multimodal hub in Ulyanovsk. On this subject, we seem to be making good progress. And the project, despite the criticisms made in Russia by nationalists or communists, seems to be off to a good start. He is also defended by Putin himself, according to AFP, as he explained to the deputies of the Duma. “We understand what's going on in Afghanistan, don't we? We want the situation there to be under control. (…) We do not want our soldiers to fight on the Tajik-Afghan border” (Tajikistan is linked to Russia by a cooperation agreement). In Afghanistan, “NATO and the international community are present there. May God keep them! Let them work! »

Missile shield proposal

Proposals have been made to the Russians to try to reduce the differences on the anti-missile shield. The United States has proposed that the Russians participate in all anti-missile tests - deploying whatever equipment they want. They also proposed that a joint advanced warning center, "managed by 29" (NATO + Russia), be installed in Russia and fed by the Russians - which would be a " gain for the Russians in terms of transparency and for the allies in terms of information” — and the establishment of an interception coordination center for missile flights. It would not be a common center (as proposed by Medvedev in Lisbon); it is indeed a coordination of "two independent systems": the Allies intercepting the missiles on their NATO territory; the Russians on their territory — . " For the moment, the Russians have refused it, they continue to advocate their solution”. But, on the NATO side, we hope, we “ expects an evolution from the Russians " on this point.

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