Nato proposed a new era of co-operation with Russia on Friday, calling for joint work with Moscow and Washington on missile defence after the United States scrapped a planned anti-missile system. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described as "correct and brave" President Barack Obama's decision to drop the missile shield intended for Europe by predecessor George W. Bush. Russia's Nato envoy welcomed the Nato co-operation proposals.
Some military experts saw the moves as a sign of weakness by Obama which Moscow hard-liners would want to exploit further. Putin called in a speech on Friday for Obama to follow up with concessions on trade and technology transfer. Others described abandonment of the system as a bold gesture that could improve frosty relations between the West and Russia, but also said many obstacles remained to better ties between the former Cold War foes.
"I do believe that it is possible for Nato and Russia to make a new beginning and to enjoy a far more productive relationship in the future," Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in his first big policy speech since taking office in August. "We should explore the potential for linking the US, Nato and Russian missile defence systems at an appropriate time."
He gave few details of how his proposals would work but they were welcomed by Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and one of Moscow's loudest critics of the planned US missile shield. Under a new plan, Washington would initially deploy ships with missile interceptors and in a second phase would field land-based defence systems. Rasmussen said no Nato ally would be weakened by the decision.
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