Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Lisbon yesterday for his first summit with NATO leaders since Moscow invaded Georgia in 2008, with the Kremlin and western capitals poised to embark on a range of joint security, political, and military projects aimed at ending the worst period of friction since the Cold War.
US President Barack Obama, after announcing last year that he wanted to “reset” relations with Russia, aimed to flesh out a policy of rapprochement with Moscow, while also boosting Medvedev in his brewing domestic political contest with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
A summit of the 28 NATO leaders on Friday night was wrestling toward an agreement to develop a missile shield intended to protect Europe and North America against ballistic missile attack from Iran, Syria or North Korea. The alliance offered the Russians participation in the missile shield project. Tentative agreement to explore the prospect was expected late yesterday if the allies decided to push ahead despite the reservations of several European countries.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he expected “the summit will agree that NATO develop the capability to defend Europe against missile attack. There is a clear threat ... By reaching out and inviting Russia to co-operate with us, I believe we have a real chance to build a security roof for the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”
The overtures to Moscow were echoed by other leaders.
“I wish for Russia to be as involved as possible,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
“This is the start of a new phase of cooperation between NATO and Russia,” Downing Street said, following a couple of years of particularly fraught relations between London and Moscow.
In addition to shared missile defense development, Russia and the West are also expected to agree on a range of other policies and projects, from Afghanistan to joint analysis of future security threats.
The Russians have agreed to expand NATO supply routes to and from Afghanistan, to service Afghan helicopters, train Afghan pilots, and conduct joint programs with the West aimed at countering the Afghan heroin trade.
Despite wariness in eastern Europe at the new warmth between Moscow and the West, NATO officials were confident that Medvedev, by visiting Lisbon, was investing much capital in the relationship, while also improving his chances of prevailing in a likely contest with Putin, his mentor and potential rival.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Obama, weakened by Republican victories in the US midterm elections, will be able to deliver ratification of the bilateral New START nuclear arms reduction treaty. If he fails, relations with Moscow are likely to be set back.
The fate of the missile shield agreement within NATO was unclear. Officials said several European leaders appeared to be stepping back from the idea, worried that the costs could spiral at a time of big defense cuts across Europe.
Rasmussen insisted the project was affordable and his spokesman, James Appathurai, estimated the price tag in Europe at under 1 billion euros (US$1.4 billion), with 80 percent of that already being spent on limited national missile defense plans aimed at protecting troops and military installations.
That optimism was not shared by several European governments.
A European foreign minister told reporters: “This must not be pre-cooked. There are big questions about the costs. We have to be transparent about what it might mean in the future, and we have to insist that Russia does not see it as a threat.”
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