From NATO: [Excerpt of press conference by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer after the NATO-Russia Council meeting in Corfu, Greece, 6/27/09] On substance, as I said, we restarted our relations at a political level. We also agreed to restart the military-to-military contacts which, as you know, had been frozen since last August. And there were many more subjects discussed for possible cooperation, for increasing cooperation in the framework of the NATO-Russia Council.

I can mention just a few: stabilizing Afghanistan, combating terrorism, fighting piracy. These areas of cooperation, I could mention proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counternarcotics, I should not forget . . .

But:

I think that it will be very difficult because there’s of course a strong feeling of the respect for the territorial integrity of Georgia.

And if I remove my NRC Chair hat and I put on my NATO Secretary General’s hat for a moment – and those two are not the same – it is clear that in the North Atlantic Alliance, this territory integrity notion and the end of the United Nations mission is very sharply criticized. But it can be discussed in an open spirit. (photo: NATO)