NATO, Russia agree new plan for cooperation: diplomats

NATO and Russia agreed Thursday to strengthen cooperation, on the eve of the highest-level meeting between them since Moscow sent troops into Georgia last year, diplomats said. "We agreed today on three documents, one on the reform of NATO-Russia Council, on the work plan for 2010 and on a joint review of threats and challenges in the 21st century," one diplomat said.
The documents are to be endorsed on Friday when foreign ministers meet in the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) forum.
"The reform will hopefully make NRC structures more adaptable," the diplomat said, adding that the changes "would include new areas of cooperation".
"Even if it certainly does not solve the old differences, it should allow us to reinvigorate and make NRC a more effective tool for practical cooperation and political dialogue," he said.
The agreement was passed after no country raised objections to the plan, a second diplomat confirmed, on condition of anonymity.
NATO froze official talks within the forum last year after Russia sent troops into Georgia, and subsequently recognised the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions, to international condemnation.
Ties have recently begun to thaw, despite lingering differences over US and NATO missile shield plans, a series of weapons treaties and the recognition of Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia last year.
On Tuesday, Russia pressured NATO to discuss President Dmitry Medvedev's new European security plan during the talks, but the alliance has reacted coolly to the idea.
At Friday's meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to raise the plan with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and their NATO counterparts.
But diplomats say NATO nations will not respond, as they believe the only real forum for such discussion is the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
"The OSCE is the primary forum for these sorts of discussions, not here," another diplomat said.
Medvedev unveiled his draft European security treaty on Sunday, saying it would end Cold War mentalities.
He began pushing the treaty in 2008 and intensified efforts after the Russia-Georgia war, but most Western countries have paid little attention to the idea, saying that it has lacked detail.
Many at NATO say it is an attempt to do away with the transatlantic alliance.