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Putin, Blair speak after British NATO proposal
( 2001-11-18 11:37 ) (7 )

Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned Tony Blair on Saturday to discuss the British prime minister's call for deeper ties between Moscow and NATO, part of an East-West thaw brought by the September 11 suicide attacks.

In letters to Putin and NATO leaders on Friday, Blair called for Russia and the 19-member nation alliance to set up a new coordinating body to focus on cooperation in counter-terrorism, arms control and other areas.

Blair made the proposal the day Putin returned from a warm-spirited summit in the United States, where he repeatedly called for closer ties with NATO. The Kremlin praised Blair's ideas, and described them as a response to Putin's appeals.

A Kremlin statement said Putin and Blair discussed efforts to "further deepen ties between Russia and NATO, with the goal of giving them a new character corresponding to today's situation" as addressed in Blair's letter.

"Moscow highly esteems the practical reaction of the British leadership to the Russian president's repeated suggestions on the need to alter the mutual relations between Russia and the Western alliance in response to new challenges and security threats in Europe and the world as a whole," it added.

A Kremlin spokeswoman confirmed that Putin had initiated the telephone call.

"TALKING SHOP" IS "OUTMODED"

Russia and NATO members now meet in a council once a month, but Moscow has only a limited, consultative role.

But Putin has long chafed at the arrangement, saying the post-Cold War world no longer has any need for a European military alliance which excluded Russia from decision making.

A British official, announcing Blair's proposals late on Friday, called the current council "just a talking shop" and "outmoded" and said the attacks on the United States should spur closer cooperation.

Under the British proposal, the new council would meet more often. But precisely how Moscow would be given more say is less clear. Russia would not become a veto-wielding member of the alliance, or join its integrated command.

"I don't rule out doing military things together", the British official said. But Russian forces already work alongside the alliance's troops in NATO-led peace forces in the Balkans.

Russian officials repeated their dissatisfaction with the current arrangement on Saturday.

"The current format of Russia-NATO relations at the level of the permanent council, is purely based on talk and yields nothing," Interfax news agency quoted Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying.

"NATO is also a relic of the Cold War. If NATO believes the security threat has fundamentally changed and recognises that Russia poses no threat, then it is necessary to transform the alliance," he said.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, a strong promoter of Russia-NATO ties, is due to visit Russia in the coming days and can be expected to talk up cooperation.

A NATO spokeswoman said the visit would take place from November 21-23. Russian media say he will stop in Volgograd, site of the bloodiest battle of World War Two, before travelling to Moscow to meet Putin and other officials.