6/7 Tass 362
BRUSSELS, July 6 (Itar-Tass) — Russia and NATO might be able to reach agreement on the antiballistic missiles in Europe by the Russia-NATO spring summit of 2012, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday in a comment on the results of the visiting session of the Russia-NATO Council in Sochi July 4.
He said this is a realistic time frame for reaching agreements on the antiballistic missiles and NATO’s spring summit of 2012 is the most pausible term.
Rasmussen said he hopes that Russia and NATO will be able to hold a summit at the same time and to reach understanding on the problem of antiballistic missiles there.
He mentioned the problem of non-targeting the antiballistic missiles at Russia, saying the Fundamental Act on Relationship, which Russia and NATO signed at the inception of their relationship in 1997, already stipulated the reciprocal obligation of the two sides regarding the non-use of armaments against each other.
The 1997 document naturally concerns the ABM, too, and that is why there is no need to sign any more documents on the issue, Ramussen claimed.
NATO is going to hold its 2012 spring summit in the U.S. Russia-NATO summits are usually held in parallel with NATO summit conference but this rule is not observed mandatorily.