NATO resumes ties with Russia

VILNIUS - NATO member-state foreign ministers have agreed during an informal meeting in Brussels to resume formal operations of the NATO-Russia council, said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas.

"We had a lengthy and open conversation about the relations between NATO and Russia. I voiced my doubts whether the time has really come for resumption of the NATO-Russia Council. Nevertheless, we agreed that the council should be used as a form of dialogue with Russia on all issues including problem matters. If we want to make influence, we have to talk," Usackas told BNS after the three-hour meeting.

Usackas said that the participants of the meeting did not forget Russia's failure to meet the commitments with respect to Georgia.

"We drew the attention to withdrawal of troops, founding of bases and other matters. Concerns were voiced regarding Russia's relations with South Ossetia and Abkhazia," said Usackas.

NATO foreign ministers will meet with officials of NATO hopefuls Georgia and Ukraine in order to balance the situation and send clear positive signals, the Lithuanian diplomacy chief said.

The first official meeting of Russian and NATO officials will take place after the NATO summit scheduled for early April. As a rule, the NATO-Russia Council is a meeting place of ambassadors, however, sometimes meetings of ministers and heads of states and governments are also held.

Lithuania has been opposing resumption of the Alliance's official communication with Moscow, the move was also criticized by the Czech Republic. However, renewal of high-level contacts between NATO and Russia was approved by many major Western democracies including the United States.

The official NATO-Russia relations were frozen due to the brief armed conflict that broke out between Russia and Georgia last August, however, informal conversations were resumed in December 2008.