U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
95/05/31 Statement: NATO's Relationship with Russia
Office of the Spokesman


                         U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
                         Office of the Spokesman 
 
                       (Noordwijk, The Netherlands) 
 
___________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                 May 31, 1995 
 
 
 
                              STATEMENT  
                                 BY 
                  SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER AT 
                     THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING  
                    WITH RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER KOZYREV 
 
                            Huis ter Duin 
                       Noordwijk, The Netherlands 
 
                            May 31, 1995 
 
 
Mr. Secretary-General, it is a great pleasure to join our NATO 
colleagues and Foreign Minister Kozyrev to mark this important moment in 
NATO's relationship with Russia, and to set a course for its further 
development.   
 
It is in the interest of every member of the Alliance, and of each of 
our partners, that Russia participate fully and constructively in 
Europe's emerging security architecture.  For the United States, 
Russia's decision to cross the threshold into active engagement with 
NATO puts into place an important element of our comprehensive strategy 
for broader European security and integration.  For Russia, for NATO, 
and for Europe, this is an historic choice with enormously positive 
implications. 
 
This moment has not come without a great deal of hard work.  We met 
almost one year ago in Brussels to welcome Russia to the Partnership for 
Peace.  We pledged then that we would seize the opportunity to build an 
undivided, peaceful, and democratic Europe.  We agreed that cooperative 
relations between the Alliance and Russia are essential to this task. 
 
In the last year we have worked hard to follow up on that mandate.  The 
road has not always been smooth.  But I believe that the process has 
been constructive.  We have learned where we disagree, but, as 
important, that disagreements in some areas need not be an obstacle to 
moving ahead. 
 
During this same period, the Partnership for Peace has made impressive 
progress in strengthening our cooperation with the countries of Central 
Europe and the former Soviet Union.  The Partnership for Peace is now 
established as an integral European security structure in its own right.  
A full program of Partnership exercises is now in progress.  We look 
forward to Russian participation in exercises and other Partnership 
activities scheduled for this year. 
 
Beyond the Partnership, we look forward to political consultations with 
Russia on a number of important security matters where Russia has 
special interests or capabilities, including non-proliferation and 
nuclear security.  The United States is firmly committed to a broad, 
enhanced dialogue between the Alliance and Russia.   
 
Yesterday, we agreed that our immediate objective should be to define a 
framework for developing the NATO-Russia dialogue further.  Today we 
welcome the beginning of that progress.  We are looking forward to 
working with Russia in building a European security structure in which a 
productive NATO-Russia relationship plays an indispensable role.   
 
That relationship will complement the other elements of our strategy:  
strengthening the Partnership for Peace, further strengthening the OSCE, 
and maintaining our steady transparent progress toward the enlargement 
of NATO and the European Union.  The objective of this strategy is the 
integration of all of Europe into a series of mutually supporting 
institutions and relationships that ensure there will be no return to 
division or confrontation. 
 
The United States looks forward to working with our Allies and with 
Russia in the coming months to make this process a success, and to 
ensure that it serves the interests we all  
share. 
 
Thank you. 
 
 
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