Nato hopes Putin election leads to stronger cooperation

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed hopes Monday that Vladimir Putin's election will lead to enhanced cooperation, especially on the difficult issue of missile defence.

The outcome of Putin's election victory "will likely be continuity in Russia's leadership and policies, and I expect this continuity will include a continuous engagement in positive dialogue and cooperation" between Russia and Nato, Rasmussen said in a statement.

He noted that since a Russia-Nato summit in Lisbon in 2010 "we have made important progress on Afghanistan, on counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics and counter-piracy."

"I hope we will now be able to move forward in other areas, especially on missile defence. Both Russia and Nato will benefit from such cooperation," he said.

The head of the alliance said that "obviously we do not agree on everything" but that "our differences should not overshadow the fact that we share security concerns in many areas."

Moscow has opposed Nato plans to develop an anti-missile shield in Europe due to be fully operational by 2018, notably in Poland, Romania and Turkey.

The shield aims to protect Europe against missile attacks from the Middle East, in particular from Iran, but Moscow wants assurances it cannot target Russia.

Rasmussen also said that a Nato-Russia meeting would be held on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Chicago "if we can reach an agreement on missile defence."

"If we cannot, there will be no meeting," he added.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.