CORFU (Greece) - NATO and Russia agreed on Saturday to resume political and military cooperation, ending a 10-month freeze, but failed to resolve all their differences over the war in Georgia.
Russia less upbeat
RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was less upbeat than Gen Scheffer, describing the talks as 'to a certain extent, a positive development", and he preferred to focus on the 'frank exchange of views' at the table.
He also insisted that Russia's recognition of the separatist regions would not be reversed.
At a meeting on the Greek island of Corfu, foreign ministers from the 28 Nato allies plus Russia agreed on an action plan to revamp their Nato-Russia Council after its weaknesses were exposed by the short war last August.
'The Nato-Russia Council, which has been in the neutral stand for almost a year, is now back in gear,' alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after chairing the short meeting.
'The 29 ambassadors in Brussels will very quickly get back to work to agree on new procedures to make the Nato-Russia Council function more effectively,' he told reporters.
Nato froze top level ties with Russia after its war with Nato-hopeful Georgia, incensed by Moscow's recognition of the breakaway Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and they have struggled to kickstart them again.
Gen Scheffer acknowledged that problems remain, notably Russia's decision to block the deployment of observers to Georgia by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was meeting late Saturday and Sunday.
But he said the allies believed it was more important to move ahead.
'No one tried to paper over our differences, on Georgia for example. But we agreed not to let those disagreements bring the whole NRC train to a halt,' he said.
Nato and Russia have worked together in the military alliance's battle to defeat the Taleban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism and against piracy off Somalia, and they vowed here to continue to do so.
But they disagree on issues ranging from missile defence to the recognition of the independence of Kosovo - where Nato has a peacekeeping force - as well as a number of arms treaties.
Russia's five day war with Georgia raised tensions to boiling point. -- AFP
