Russia wants clarity from NATO over missile system (Roundup)

Nov 1, 2010, 16:30 GMT

Moscow - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that Moscow wants more clarity from NATO about the alliance's planned anti-missile system and what Russia's role in it might be.

Lavrov made the remarks during talks with visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who had urged Moscow's involvement in the anti-missile defence network.

Lavrov said he hopes NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is to visit Moscow later in the week, will present more details about the system and how NATO conceives Russia's role in it.

Westerwelle said that a joint effort to build a defensive shield is possible and that Russia is regarded by the West as a strategic partner.

'There should be no enemy pictures any longer,' the German minister said.

Lavrov said he hopes that NATO at its summit in Lisbon later this month - which President Dmitry Medvedev will be attending - will take a clear position about how it plans to deal with Russia in the future.

At any rate, Moscow no longer feels that it is being looked on as an enemy by NATO, he added.

Earlier, Westerwelle had pledged that, in the effort to build up a new relationship between NATO and Russia, Germany would 'do its share to see that this succeeds.'

Westerwelle also met with opposition and civil society groups in the afternoon. Earlier in the day, he had brought up the controversial issue of the corruption trial facing former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The German minister spoke of the 'very serious concern about the conditions of the trial proceedings' in an apparent reference to criticism that the trial was politically motivated in order to silence a critic of Premier Vladimir Putin.

'It is in Russia's interest that these concerns are taken seriously,' Westerwelle said in remarks coming a few days after the Khodorkovsky trial wrapped up, with a verdict scheduled by December.

Lavrov responded by only pointing out that the defence and prosecution had made their final arguments and that 'the court will decide.'

Khodorkovsky, serving an eight-year term for fraud in connection with his activities as chief of the former Yukos oil concern, stands charged with stealing 218 million tons of oil. The prosecution demanded a further six-year term, which would keep him in prison until 2017.

Westerwelle also raised the subject of visa freedom during his one-day visit to Moscow. Both he and Lavrov expressed their support for a kind of phased plan that would allow for the dismissal of existing visa rules for travel between Germany and Russia.

Lavrov suggested a 'list with common steps,' while Westerwelle said that 'Germany stands by the long-term goal of visa freedom between Russia and the Schengen zone.'

The German minister did, however, note that there is a 'great deal of practical obstacles.' The European Union has for instance demanded from Russia that it comply with human rights and better secure its borders.

Westerwelle's arrival in Moscow kicked off a three-nation tour that will later include Belarus and Lithuania.

Westerwelle will be the first German foreign minister in 15 years to be hosted by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whom human rights activists call 'Europe's last dictator.'

Read more about Germany

Read more about Russia Diplomacy