Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to NATO's Lisbon summit will herald a new era in the military alliance's relations with its Cold War-era adversary, NATO Secretary General Angers Fogh Rasmussen has told RIA Novosti.
"It will certainly be a summit that marks a fresh start in our relations," Rasmussen said in an interview on the eve of the landmark November 19-20 meeting. "I hope in particular that NATO and Russia will be moving forward on missile defense cooperation."
The NATO-Russia Council meeting on Saturday will see the highest level talks between the 28-member alliance and Moscow since Russian troops moved deep into Georgia in August 2008 as part of a campaign to defend the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.
"I was very heartened by the approach of President Medvedev during our meeting in Moscow." the NATO chief went on. "He agrees with me that the Lisbon summit provides the allies and Russia with an opportunity to build a modern, durable and long-term strategic partnership."
Rasmussen earlier said he wants to invite Moscow to join a U.S.-sponsored missile defense shield, and the Kremlin responded ahead of the summit that the once-unthinkable development was more than feasible.
"I consider this realistic," presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said, adding that the realisation of the system was simply a matter of "political will." He also said the joint system was possible in the "mid-term, rather than the long-term".
Rasmussen also said that the alliance is hoping for further cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan.
"We are hoping to finalize an understanding which would broaden the existing agreement on transit. It would allow for land movements across Russia both to and from Afghanistan. And the list of approved goods would be enlarged," he said.
He also expressed hope that NATO and Russia would "increase the scope" of its work on combating the drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Russian and U.S. personnel recently combined to launch raids on drug labs.
Rasmussen also remarked that "new NATO" meant "a more engaged NATO, open to deeper partnerships in a wider world, including with Russia."