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| Version 7 | Version 8 |
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| Nato 'to resume ties with Russia' | Nato 'to resume ties with Russia' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Nato has agreed to a "conditional and graduated re-engagement" with Russia, the alliance's secretary general says. | Nato has agreed to a "conditional and graduated re-engagement" with Russia, the alliance's secretary general says. |
| Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said talks with Moscow, which were frozen over its war with Georgia in August, would resume. | Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said talks with Moscow, which were frozen over its war with Georgia in August, would resume. |
| The Nato-Russia Council is not being restored, but the Nato chief said lower-level talks would take place. | The Nato-Russia Council is not being restored, but the Nato chief said lower-level talks would take place. |
| Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also reiterated their support for eventual Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine. | Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also reiterated their support for eventual Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine. |
| But Nato is deeply divided on the subject, and did not offer the countries their desired membership action plan (MAP). | But Nato is deeply divided on the subject, and did not offer the countries their desired membership action plan (MAP). |
| Moscow strongly opposes their ambitions to join the alliance, and some countries, like Germany, France and Italy, fear offering them MAPs would provoke Russia, correspondents say. | Moscow strongly opposes their ambitions to join the alliance, and some countries, like Germany, France and Italy, fear offering them MAPs would provoke Russia, correspondents say. |
| Instead, ministers encouraged Tbilisi and Kiev to pursue reforms needed to join the alliance, without any timetable for entry. | Instead, ministers encouraged Tbilisi and Kiev to pursue reforms needed to join the alliance, without any timetable for entry. |
| Mr De Hoop Scheffer said that all previous decisions made by Nato heads of state regarding Georgia and Ukraine still stood. | Mr De Hoop Scheffer said that all previous decisions made by Nato heads of state regarding Georgia and Ukraine still stood. |
| "That includes very much that they will one day be members, if they so wish of course, and important to add, when they meet Nato standards," he said. | "That includes very much that they will one day be members, if they so wish of course, and important to add, when they meet Nato standards," he said. |
| The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Brussels says it is clear that neither country will become a Nato member any time soon, and that assistance is all Nato can offer for now. | The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Brussels says it is clear that neither country will become a Nato member any time soon, and that assistance is all Nato can offer for now. |
| 'Problematic' | 'Problematic' |
| Nato ministers have not revived the Nato-Russia Council, but Mr De Hoop Scheffer said they had agreed to a resumption of lower-level dialogue with Moscow. | |
| Nato secretary general Jaap De Hoop Schefferon on relations with Russia | |
| "The Nato-Russia Council will meet on an informal basis to re-engage and to have discussions on the issues on which we will agree and, I would also like to add, on the issues on which we disagree," he said. | "The Nato-Russia Council will meet on an informal basis to re-engage and to have discussions on the issues on which we will agree and, I would also like to add, on the issues on which we disagree," he said. |
| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attending her final Nato ministerial meeting, insisted "this is not business as usual" and that she still considered Russia's action in Georgia in the summer to be "unacceptable". | US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attending her final Nato ministerial meeting, insisted "this is not business as usual" and that she still considered Russia's action in Georgia in the summer to be "unacceptable". |
| But she said the Nato decision was "a completely appropriate thing for the alliance to do". | But she said the Nato decision was "a completely appropriate thing for the alliance to do". |
| "This is not about competition and conflict and domination, but rather about cooperation in a framework in which one treats one's neighbours, even if they were once a part of the Soviet Union, as equals in the international system," she said. | "This is not about competition and conflict and domination, but rather about cooperation in a framework in which one treats one's neighbours, even if they were once a part of the Soviet Union, as equals in the international system," she said. |
| Before the meeting, Ms Rice had said she broadly backed efforts to improve Nato's contacts with Russia but that Nato should remain "very attentive" to Russian activity. | Before the meeting, Ms Rice had said she broadly backed efforts to improve Nato's contacts with Russia but that Nato should remain "very attentive" to Russian activity. |
| If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map Mikhail Saakashvili | If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map Mikhail Saakashvili |
| "There are certain types of activities, like military-to-military contacts, that seem to me to be problematic, when the Russian military is sitting in Georgian territory, in the separatist regions," she said. | "There are certain types of activities, like military-to-military contacts, that seem to me to be problematic, when the Russian military is sitting in Georgian territory, in the separatist regions," she said. |
| Thousands of Russian troops are still stationed in Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. | Thousands of Russian troops are still stationed in Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. |
| On Tuesday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned the West of "grave risks of returning to business as usual" with Russia without holding it to account for its actions in Georgia. | On Tuesday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned the West of "grave risks of returning to business as usual" with Russia without holding it to account for its actions in Georgia. |
| "If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map by intimidation or force," Mr Saakashvili wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal. | "If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map by intimidation or force," Mr Saakashvili wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal. |
| In a separate development, the EU launched its mission to investigate the causes of the Georgian-Russian conflict, a spokesman for the EU's French presidency was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. | In a separate development, the EU launched its mission to investigate the causes of the Georgian-Russian conflict, a spokesman for the EU's French presidency was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. |
| 'No shortcuts' | 'No shortcuts' |
| No one wants to see a circumstance in which Ukraine and Georgia are shut out Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State Nato bid has a long way to go | No one wants to see a circumstance in which Ukraine and Georgia are shut out Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State Nato bid has a long way to go |
| Nato was deeply divided on how to proceed following the conflict over South Ossetia in the summer and had to sidestep some bruising internal debates to reach the day's decisions, correspondents say. | Nato was deeply divided on how to proceed following the conflict over South Ossetia in the summer and had to sidestep some bruising internal debates to reach the day's decisions, correspondents say. |
| While the US and newer Nato members, from the former Warsaw Pact, are keen to draw Georgia and Ukraine closer, others like Germany and France are wary of antagonising Russia, a key energy supplier. | While the US and newer Nato members, from the former Warsaw Pact, are keen to draw Georgia and Ukraine closer, others like Germany and France are wary of antagonising Russia, a key energy supplier. |
| Nato also does not want Russia to think it has a veto over who joins the alliance, our correspondent says. | Nato also does not want Russia to think it has a veto over who joins the alliance, our correspondent says. |
| Ms Rice had previously said she believed in Nato's "open door policy" but that there should be "no short cuts to membership of Nato", and that both Ukraine and Georgia must first meet the organisation's admission standards. | Ms Rice had previously said she believed in Nato's "open door policy" but that there should be "no short cuts to membership of Nato", and that both Ukraine and Georgia must first meet the organisation's admission standards. |
| "No one wants to see a circumstance in which Ukraine and Georgia are shut out," she said. | "No one wants to see a circumstance in which Ukraine and Georgia are shut out," she said. |
| The war also raised doubts among many members over whether Georgia, with its disputed territories, was ready to join the bloc or remained too volatile. | The war also raised doubts among many members over whether Georgia, with its disputed territories, was ready to join the bloc or remained too volatile. |
| Ukraine, meanwhile, has been beset by political turbulence, with the country split on Nato membership. | Ukraine, meanwhile, has been beset by political turbulence, with the country split on Nato membership. |
| Correspondents says it will be a struggle for the alliance to prevent divisions on the issue hardening into permanent fault lines. | Correspondents says it will be a struggle for the alliance to prevent divisions on the issue hardening into permanent fault lines. |