| Russian generals invited to plan NATO operations Leading European NATO member states responded to Vladimir Putin's recent statement that “we are ready to develop relations as far as the Alliance itself is ready for this.” The alliance confirmed its readiness to go even further than Russia could have hoped until recently. Counselor of the French Embassy in Moscow Bernard Chapdelaine told Vremya Novostey newspaper yesterday that Paris had agreed with London on the principles of new relations with Russia within the framework of NATO structures. As follows from the statement of the official representative of the French Foreign Ministry, they “agree to establish contacts with Russia in the format of 20 participants.”
The Europeans are very serious: the statement directly states that “on the issue of military operations, the possibility of planning and conducting truly joint NATO/Russian operations (operational planning and strategic leadership in a format of 20 participants, Russian participation in the command and control level) can be considered.” That is, if further negotiations are successful and mutual obligations are legally consolidated, the Russian military will receive what they have been persistently striving for for many years: the opportunity to actually participate in the planning of NATO operations. Moreover, Paris offers Moscow really serious things as real areas of interaction. “These could be military and defense topics that are at the core of NATO's competence: disarmament, use of existing weapons, ballistic threat assessment, strengthening counter-proliferation capabilities. It could also be operational theater missile defense, maybe even the military aspects of counter-terrorism (intelligence sharing, protection of armed forces and military infrastructures).”
The political aspects of the upcoming agreements on the “Format 20” are expected to be agreed upon at the meeting of the Russia-NATO Permanent Joint Council opening on December 7 in Brussels, at which Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will have consultations with colleagues from the Alliance countries. And immediately after the politicians, the military themselves will join in clarifying their positions. Next week, Jean-Pierre Kölsch, Chief of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces, will arrive in Moscow for negotiations with senior military leadership. Yuri GOLOTYUK |
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