The upcoming NATO Summit in Lisbon will allow NATO and Russia "to bury once and for all the ghosts of the past," alliance Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on his personal Facebook page.
Rasmussen paid a visit to Moscow on Wednesday as part of preparations for the Russia-NATO Council summit on November 20 in Lisbon. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to take part in the top-level gathering for the first time since the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, which soured Russia's relations with the alliance.
"After my talks in Moscow, I'm even more convinced that the NATO Summit in Lisbon, where Russia will participate, will be a real opportunity to turn a page, to bury once and for all the ghosts of the past," Rasmussen wrote. "We share common security challenges. Together we can create one security roof by linking our missile defense systems and give our populations real security against missile threats."
Rasmussen said on Wednesday the alliance hoped to work with Russia on missile defense.
Speaking at a RIA Novosti news conference, Rasmussen said he wanted to see Russia and NATO resume cooperation in the field of theater missile defenses, which are designed to protect deployed military forces.
The NATO chief also proposed conducting joint exercises with Russia in the sphere and said the cooperation on theater defenses could develop into cooperation on strategic missile defense, long a bone of contention between Moscow and Washington.
MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti)
