
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993                   TAG: 9312100101
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM                                LENGTH: Short

RUSSIA MAY JOIN U.S., EUROPE IN JOINT NATO MILITARY EXERCISES

In an arrangement that could lead to full NATO membership, Russia is "quite likely" to join the United States and European nations in joint military exercises expected to begin as early as next year, U.S. and NATO officials said Thursday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin and NATO secretary-general Manfred Woerner, at the conclusion of two days of meetings in preparation for the NATO summit here next month, said they believe Russia will abandon its opposition and decide to join the U.S.-sponsored Partnership for Peace program.

The program would pull together two dozen nations in military exercises to include training maneuvers, equipment sharing, search-and-rescue efforts, anti-terrorism activities, environmental cleanup and peacekeeping operations.

If Russia joins the program, as the officials predict, it will mark the first time the country has agreed to extensive joint military activities, except for a bilateral arrangement announced earlier this year at the Pentagon for U.S.-Russia military maneuvers next summer.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in Brussels this week for European Community discussions on trade, gave encouraging signs to NATO officials that his nation is considering uniting with former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe and joining the Partnership for Peace. Under that plan, participating members could eventually become full members of NATO.

"It is quite likely that Russia might decide to join the Partnership for Peace," Aspin said, "and might allocate some of its ground forces to this exercise, where they would jointly train with us."

by CNB