NATO-RUSSIA COOPERATION AFTER LISBON

Reporting on the NATO summit in Lisbon WSJ (November 21, 2010) noted that Russia and the 28 NATO allies said they would work together “with the aim of contributing to the creation of a common space of peace, security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.”

They agreed to cooperate on backing the Afghan government expanding the use of railway transit of nonlethal goods through Russia in and out of Afghanistan. They said they would work together on counter-terrorism, and piracy and agreed to “discuss pursuing missile defense cooperation.”

President Barack Obama said the decision to cooperate on missile defense “turns a source of past tension into a source of potential cooperation against a shared threat.”

President Medvedev urged Iran to cooperate with international organizations over its nuclear program. Asked if Russia now shared Western threat assessments about the risks from Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, he said Russia “is not indifferent to how nuclear weapons are developing in the world.”

He said he expected “normal, fully-fledged relations” with NATO countries. “We expect that the conditions for the quiet economic development of our state will be possible. We don’t want to waste our money on an arms race.”

On September 11, 2010, there was a comment on this blog on expanded cooperation between Russia and the West:

A more European leaning Russia would be of value for Ukraine, which needs stronger support from the West to create a strategic vision of its own. Such a vision is not possible without the EU. First, however, Russia’s good faith has to be tested in the coming years. Many observers believe closer cooperation between the union of European countries and Russia is far away. It may look so but visionary thinking is needed against the backdrop of a rising China. Further cooperation between Russia and Japan would also open new geopolitical opportunities.