Nato and Russia to bring co-operation to new level

A day after Russia and the US announced a breakthrough in nuclear arms cuts, Nato was today aiming to strike its own landmark agreement to take cooperation with Moscow to a new level.

Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov is scheduled to meet his Nato counterparts in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, wrapping up five months of negotiations on a new council where Russia will sit alongside the 19 Nato nations to formulate joint policy on terrorism and other shared threats.

The two-day Nato meeting is also scheduled to review the alliance’s plans to invite new members from eastern Europe later this year and examine how to close the gap between US military might and Europe’s outdated armed forces.

Under the expected agreement with Moscow, a new Nato-Russia Council would deal with a fixed range of issues likely to include counterterrorism, arms proliferation, missile defence, peacekeeping, management of regional crises, search-and-rescue and arms control.

The deal springs from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support for the West since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

The first meeting of the new Nato-Russia Council will take place on May 28 at an Italian air force base outside Rome, when Mr Putin will sit down alongside US President George W Bush and other Nato leaders.

After that, Russian diplomats and ministers will meet regularly with their Nato equivalents to develop the new relationship.

The agreement will not affect Nato’s core mutual defence role, and alliance officials insist safeguards are built in to ensure Moscow will not be able to veto Nato decisions if relations sour.

Before the Italy meeting, Mr Bush and Mr Putin are set to meet in Moscow to sign the new treaty to cut nuclear warheads, a deal Mr Bush said would ‘‘put behind us the Cold War once and for all’’.

After meeting with Mr Ivanov today, the Nato foreign ministers are scheduled to receive other counterparts from the old communist bloc, including the nine candidates for membership in the alliance.

Although the talks will assess their preparations, no decision on who will be invited is expected until November, when Nato holds a special summit in Prague.

The ministers are expected to accept Croatia’s bid to become the 10th official candidate during the Reykjavik meeting.