NATO delegation is in Moscow in a bid ‘to warm up ties’

PanARMENIAN.Net - A NATO delegation is visiting Moscow in a bid to warm up ties with Russia, which has been wary of the alliance's intentions, AP reports.

Senior military officers from NATO's command on Tuesday, October 25, opened a four-day seminar to brief their Russian counterparts on NATO's missions and plans.

Russia provides a vital overland supply link for NATO forces in Afghanistan and the two sides have had joint anti-terrorism and search-and-rescue drills. But, at the same time, Moscow has bristled at NATO's expansion eastward and claimed U.S.-led missile defense plans have the potential to start a new arms race.

Officials hope the event will help bring the Cold War-era adversaries closer by sharing their views, said British Maj. Gen. Simon Porter.

"It's best to understand each other's perspective, to exchange ideas and to identify best practice," Porter said. The "future is about working together and understanding each other."

Russian Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, the head of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces' academy, said that meetings like this week's seminar will help narrow differences. "The dialogue helps find common ground," he said.

NATO has offered Russia to cooperate on the missile shield, but rejected Moscow's proposal to jointly run it.

Russia says that the prospective U.S.-led system could threaten its nuclear forces, undermining their deterrence potential. It has urged Washington to provide legal guarantees that the shield will not be directed against Russia.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the failure to reach agreement on missile defense may prompt Russia to deploy new offensive weapons, triggering an arms race.