Don't look for a connection

Arriving in Moscow, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer met with Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov. The subject of discussion was the partnership between the Russian Federation and NATO, cooperation in the military and political fields. No matter how much Russian politicians hoped, they could not avoid discussions on the conflict with Georgia. Scheffer called for the lifting of sanctions against Georgia and asked not to look for a connection between the current situation and the beginning of an intensive dialogue between Georgia and NATO.