Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506020074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NOORDWIJK, NETHERLANDS LENGTH: Medium
At a meeting with his NATO counterparts, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev committed his country to broad military and political exchanges.
The decision shows that Russia's desire for closer links and influence with the West is prevailing over anxiety about the alliance in general and its eastward expansion plans in particular.
``NATO is no longer the enemy of Russia,'' declared NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes.
Kozyrev confirmed his country's membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace program and handed over a detailed list of military and political cooperation activities.
He also endorsed a document - unique to Russia and not the other 25 nations that have signed a partnership - setting out an ``enhanced dialogue'' with NATO on topics such as peacekeeping and ending the smuggling of nuclear material.
Claes said closer ties with Moscow provide an opportunity for NATO to ``show our good intentions and to clearly stress the fact that the enlargement of NATO will bring more stability, more guarantees for peace in Central and Eastern Europe.''
NATO officials described the hour-long session as ``cordial,'' in contrast to a session in December at the NATO headquarters in Brussels at which Kozyrev froze Russia's ties with NATO in protest at the alliance's plan to absorb Moscow's onetime Cold War allies.
That announcement caught NATO foreign ministers by surprise and dampened relations, halting exchanges of military officials in the past six months.
On Wednesday, the two sides tried again. This time, Kozyrev agreed to launching a special relationship despite continued reservations about NATO's enlargement.
``Instead of considering ways of NATO expansion, we need to focus on methods of building jointly a single Europe,'' Kozyrev said in his speech to the meeting.
by CNB