Merkel signals coming push for Russian common security concept

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that Germany would continue to push for Russia's plan to bind Europe's security architecture in with Moscow's, ahead of next month's NATO summit in Lisbon, DPA reported.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has made the creation of a common European security framework that would include Moscow - outside the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) - a central plank of his foreign policy.

"On his visit here during the summer, we made a first step in that direction. Now it is about designing a common security architecture step by step, in the spirit of partnership between all European countries and Russia," Merkel said in her weekly video message.

"The Cold War is over forever," she said, adding that "of course such a partnership cannot compromise the work of trans-atlantic cooperation."

Germany is commonly seen as one of Moscow's closest allies in the European Union, with other members such as Britain being hostile to the idea of giving the Kremlin more say in the continent's defence.

NATO is set to hold a summit in the Portuguese capital Lisbon on November 19-20. Merkel said that Medvedev would attend a NATO-Russia council meeting in connection with the summit.

Relations between Russia and NATO as well as the EU have been strained since the 2008 Georgia war.