Unfreezing relations

Russia and NATO have only resumed high-level contacts in recent months after they were halted amid furious disputes over Russia's August 2008 war with Georgia, an ex-Soviet republic that had sought to join the alliance.

But according to NATO's Secretary General Rasmussen, who has made improving Moscow-NATO ties a priority of his tenure, "The blueprints are already in place for a true security partnership between NATO and Russia."

If trust can be built between Moscow and NATO states "then Russia can stop worrying about a menace from the West that simply doesn't exist," Rasmussen said in a speech to the university of the Foreign Ministry during his visit to the Russian capital on Thursday.

Russia "can put her resources into defending against the real threats this country faces - like terrorism, extremism, proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass destruction or drug trafficking," he said.

Rasmussen: no need for new Russia-NATO treaty

But NATO does not see the need for a new Russian-backed security architecture, Rasmussen told reporters during his visit. After talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders, Rasmussen urged greater cooperation between NATO and Russia in Afghanistan, but showed no enthusiasm for Moscow's treaty proposal.

"I don't see a need for new treaties or new legally binding documents because we do have a framework already," he said at a news briefing in Moscow.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev published a draft post-Cold War security pact at the end of November. He said it would replace NATO and other institutions and restrict the ability of any country to use force unilaterally. Medvedev has touted the new proposal over the last few weeks, arguing that it would put relations with NATO on a more stable footing. Russian officials say the current cooperation agreement, signed in Paris in 1997, leaves too many questions open.

Nonetheless, Rasmussen said he remains open to analyzing ways to improve security cooperation between Russia and the trans-Atlantic NATO defense pact. The Organization for Security and Cooperation is also reviewing the Russian proposals, Rasmussen said.

Cooperation on missiles and Afghanistan

Rasmussen laid out his vision that by 2020 Russia and NATO would be able to link their missile systems to create a "genuine missile shield in the Euro-Atlantic area."

He strongly defended the eastward expansion of NATO, which he acknowledged was "clearly something which many in Russia see as a deliberate strategy to encircle this country."

On Wednesday, Rasmussen had asked Russia to step up its cooperation on Afghanistan, requesting Moscow to send more helicopters for the Afghan government.

"I believe that Afghanistan must be a center-piece of our partnership in 2010," he said.

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Editor: Sean Sinico