Nato ‘to resume ties with Russia’

Nato has agreed to a “conditional and graduated re-engagement” with Russia, the alliance’s secretary general says.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said talks with Moscow, which were frozen over its war with Georgia in August, would resume.

The Nato-Russia Council is not being restored, but the Nato chief said lower-level talks would take place.

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also reiterated their support for eventual Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine.

But Nato is deeply divided on the subject, and did not offer the countries their desired membership action plan (MAP).

Moscow strongly opposes their ambitions to join the alliance, and some countries, like Germany, France and Italy, fear offering them MAPs would provoke Russia, correspondents say.

Instead, ministers encouraged Tbilisi and Kiev to pursue reforms needed to join the alliance, without any timetable for entry.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer said that all previous decisions made by Nato heads of state regarding Georgia and Ukraine still stood.

“That includes very much that they will one day be members, if they so wish of course, and important to add, when they meet Nato standards,” he said.

The BBC’s Caroline Wyatt in Brussels says it is clear that neither country will become a member any time soon, and that assistance is all Nato can offer for now.

‘Problematic’

Nato ministers have not revived the Nato-Russia Council, but Mr de Hoop Scheffer said they had agreed to a resumption of lower-level dialogue.

“The Nato-Russia Council will meet on an informal basis to re-engage and to have discussions on the issues on which we will agree and, I would also like to add, on the issues on which we disagree,” he said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attending her final Nato meeting, insisted “this is not business as usual” and that she still considered Russia’s action in Georgia in August to be “unacceptable”.

She added: “This is not about competition and conflict and domination, but rather about co-operation in a framework in which one treats one’s neighbours, even if they were once a part of the Soviet Union, as equals in the international system.”

Russia’s permanent representative to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, welcomed the decision and said his country was ready for dialogue.

“It is now clear that Nato has accepted the reality that has been shaped by Russia,” he said.

Thousands of Russian troops are still stationed in Georgia’s rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On Tuesday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned the West of “grave risks of returning to business as usual” with Russia without holding it to account for its actions in Georgia.

“If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region’s map by intimidation or force,” Mr Saakashvili wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region’s map
Mikhail Saakashvili

‘No shortcuts’

Nato was deeply divided on how to proceed following the conflict in August and had to sidestep some bruising internal debates to reach the day’s decisions, correspondents say.

While the US and newer Nato members, from the former Warsaw Pact, are keen to draw Georgia and Ukraine closer, others like Germany and France are wary of antagonising Russia, a key energy supplier.

Nato also does not want Russia to think it has a veto over who joins the alliance, the BBC’s Caroline Wyatt says.

The war also raised doubts among many members over whether Georgia, with its disputed territories, was ready to join the bloc or remained too volatile.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has been beset by political turbulence, with the country split on Nato membership.

Correspondents says it will be a struggle for the alliance to prevent divisions on the issue hardening into permanent fault lines.

 

Georgia and Ukraine ‘shouldn’t join Nato’

Georgia and Ukraine ‘shouldn’t join Nato’

By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

Russian armour in South Ossetia: who started the war?

In a potentially significant swing of expert Western opinion, a leading British think tank has urged that Nato membership should not be granted to Georgia or Ukraine. “The policy of Nato enlargement now would be a strategic error,” said Dr John Chipman, Director General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “There is no case for accelerating membership for Georgia and Ukraine. There is a strong case for a pause,” he said in remarks introducing the IISS’s annual review of world affairs, the Strategic Survey. Current Nato policy, decided at a summit meeting in Bucharest in April, is that both countries should become members eventually but no timetable has been set. Who started the war? The IISS intervention shows that following the war in Georgia, a debate is growing about whether a confrontational approach to Russia is the best one. The IISS is critical of Georgia’s actions during the conflict

The IISS is highly critical of Georgian actions – in contrast to the support Georgia has received from the US and some European countries, notably Britain. Naturally, if Georgia is faulted, then less blame can be put on Russia, whatever its reaction or, as some hold, its over-reaction. Dr Chipman said that the “balance of evidence suggests that Georgia started this war”. Georgia has claimed that Russian forces had already started to enter South Ossetia by the time it acted. Russia has said that it responded to a Georgian attack. Pressure seems to be growing for an international inquiry into the actual sequence of events. The IISS position will undermine sympathy for Georgia and its leader President Mikhail Saakashvili. Its analysis is that Georgia ignored American warnings not to go into South Ossetia and is therefore an unreliable partner at present. ‘No give and take’ But the importance of the intervention goes beyond that, as it calls for a calmer approach to relations with Russia. “There have been major errors of presentation of policy towards Russia. The US and Nato have in the past told Russia to accept whatever was happening. There was no give and take. We are disappointed at the way some Western leaders pushed the Cold War button after Georgia,” said Dr Chipman. “We should not over-inflate the crisis.” He added: “The events of August 2008 do not signify fresh steps towards a new Cold War, because neither side wants one and the stakes are too low to warrant one.” Role for EU Another IISS expert, Oksana Antonenko, reflected the IISS view that with a decline in US influence, the EU should be more active in formulating policy initiatives – but it lacked the means to do so. She said it was good timing that France – a major, influential country -held EU presidency during the Georgia crisis. “It highlighted the fact that EU institutions are highly incapable ones,” she said. “We urgently need a mechanism to stop the presidency from fluctuating between different member states.” We are disappointed at the way some Western leaders pushed the Cold War button after Georgia John Chipman, IISS

The Lisbon Treaty does provide for a permanent presidency and a strengthened foreign policy representative, but it has not been ratified. The IISS report came on a day when Nato defence ministers were meeting in London. There is some feeling in Nato that its priority should be to do more to reassure its existing members, especially those close to Russia, rather than rushing to bring in new members. And that is a view supported in the IISS report. A great deal will depend on the views of the next American president. The Bush administration is all for pushing on with membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and the issue will be taken up again at Nato meetings in December. A British official predicted that there would be no slowing of support for Georgia and no disposition to reward Russia. But no quick decisions are likely in the current uncertain state of affairs. Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk