NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wound up a two-day visit and talks with Kremlin leader Thursday, reporting mixed results while promising a "new beginning" in NATO-Moscow ties, according to dpa. After talks with President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the NATO chief said his side continues to oppose the Kremlin"s call for a new security pact, but that NATO would offer to build a joint anti-missile system with Russia. "My visit marks a new phase in relations between NATO and Russia, a new beginning," Rasmussen said to journalists in commenting on his first Moscow trip since becoming head of NATO last month. He said the two sides faced a number of common challenges including terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, piracy and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. He urged Moscow to join the western alliance in training police units in Afghanistan. Rasmussen said such training could take place on Russian territory. But regarding Medvedev"s call for a new security pact, Rasmussen said flatly, "I don"t see the necessity for a new agreement." Rasmussen noted that "NATO is not against Russia" but said the western alliance would not compromise on fundamental issues. Regarding Moscow"s current work on a new military doctrine which would give Russia the option of a nuclear first strike, Rasmussen recommended that instead the strategy paper should make a commitment to partnership with NATO. The NATO chief spoke of the possibility of a joint anti-missile defence system to be set up by the year 2020. "We will have a genuinely strong anti-missile shield," Rasmussen said in a meeting with students. "This would not only protect us from atomic weapons but also unite us politically."
