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Formal NATO-Russia relations to continue

03 December 2008 08:58 (UTC +04:00)

Brussels. Alexander Kinâ€“APA. NATO decided to continue unofficial cooperation with Russia. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told journalists that the alliance gave him mandate to learn opportunities of the political dialogue with Russia. NATO foreign ministers decided to resume the NATO-Russia Councilâ€™s work in an unofficial level. "Allies agreed on what I would qualify as a conditional and graduated re-engagement with Russia", NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after the meeting Tuesday. But he said it meant no approval of Russia’s "use of disproportionate force" in August or its occupation of Georgian territory.
The alliance banned the NATO-Russia Councilâ€™s activity after the Russia-Georgia war.