Russia's military is interested in cooperating with NATO on missile defence, dpa quoted the head of the alliance's military committee as saying today after meetings in Brussels. NATO states are currently debating whether to set up an alliance-wide shield against missile attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran. NATO's secretary general recently proposed inviting Russia to join the project as a confidence-boosting measure. The head of Russia's general staff, General Nikolai Makarov, "named missile defence (as) an area of future cooperation which we could look into" in 2011 or later, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, the head of NATO's military committee, told journalists in Brussels. Di Paola was speaking after talks between Makarov and the chiefs of the general staffs of NATO's 28 members. NATO broke off military cooperation with Russia in 2008, after the country invaded Georgia, but has now re-launched it in a bid to establish a better working relationship with its Cold War foe. However, Di Paola stressed that the militaries would only begin work on a joint missile shield if the political leadership on both sides called for it. NATO leaders are expected to decide in November whether the alliance should set up its own missile shield. Any formal invitation to Russia would follow that decision. Separately, Di Paola said that Makarov had invited him to visit Russia in July to discuss further military cooperation.
