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Partners World NATO-Russia summit possible in 2012 - Rasmussen

01 October 2011 00:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A NATO-Russia summit could be held next year in Chicago if the parties can agree on a substantive agenda, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday, APA reports quoting Ria Novosti.

No decision has been taken yet, however, he said, adding that he would like "to make progress on the NATO-Russia track."

Missile defense was a key issue, he said.

"Cooperation on missile defense makes sense militarily - because it renders both our systems more effective. And it makes sense politically -- because it demonstrates that our missile defense is not directed against Russia."

Rasmussen reiterated NATOâ€™s two-system idea:

"By cooperating with Russia, we can build two different missile defense systems with the same purpose: to tackle new threats and old suspicions at the same time."

Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile shield during the NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon in November 2010.

NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system with full-scale interoperability.