(dpa) - NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO and Russia should discuss their differences and that an upcoming summit in Bucharest between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russia's president will be "very important."
De Hoop Scheffer, who arrived in Athens for one-day talks with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyianni said Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to go to Bucharest during the NATO summit in early April for a NATO-Russian council.
"The Bucharest summit will have an important feature with the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin."
"The key word should be engagement in NATO-Russia relations," de Hoop Scheffer said, adding that "NATO cannot do without Russia and Russia cannot do without NATO."
The NATO chief said that although the two sides have "different issues to discuss ... if we do not discuss them they will stay difficult. So let's discuss them."