NATO and Russian defense ministers held their first meeting in Brussels on Thursday after the 19 allies and Russia formally set up the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) last month.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the 20 ministers said they have tasked the NRC at ambassadorial level to consider the operational implications arising from the recently agreed joint assessment of the terrorist threat to NATO and Russian peacekeepers in the Balkans and the terrorist threat to the Euro-Atlantic area.
NATO and Russia will consider organizing a conference in Moscowon their military role in combating terrorism in order to work outplans for enhanced cooperation in this regard, according to the statement.
Both NATO and Russia charged with developing a joint assessment of global trends in the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical agents. They will also develop concrete plans and timetables for consultation and cooperation in the area of theater missile defense.
The two sides will work together for specific action plans on cooperation in the fields of logistics, air transport and air-to-air refueling, the 20 ministers agreed. "These plans should address the proposal to organize demonstration tests as soon as possible," they said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2002)
