NATO ready to engage with Russia and Georgia as partners

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-28-2006 09:39

Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, have said they support engagement with Russia and Georgia's entry to the organization. They made their announcement on the eve of the NATO summit in Latvia.

During the meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Latvia's President said NATO is ready to engage with Russia as a partner to fight global dangers.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga,President of Lativia said,"We are absolutely ready to support NATO's engagement with Russia as a partner in fighting global dangers that concern us all equally - starting with terrorism or any others."

On another matter the US is urging NATO to act quickly to include Georgia in its military alliance.

But Russia has said it's alarmed including Georgia will mean NATO's influence will stretch as far as Russia's southern border and part of its western flank.

Addressing the Georgian crisis involving the two breakaway provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, NATO's Secretary General called for a peaceful solution.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,Nato secretary general said,"But for Georgia, it is certainly the full respect for Georgia's territorial integrity number one. For number two - the call for a peaceful - I repeat peaceful solution for the conflicts concerning South Ossetia and Abkhazia and point number three, the underlining of an important decision that was taken by NATO Foreign Ministers in New York not that long ago - on entering into a so called intensified dialogue with Georgia."

But it's Afghanistan, where NATO has 32-thousand troops fighting the Taliban, which is likely to dominate the summit which starts on Tuesday,The US is expected to press alliance members to increase defense spending.Leaders are also expected to address some of the weaker spots of the alliance, including serious transport deficiencies.

Editor:Du Xiaodan