The Secretary General of NATO, General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in his article written for the Russian newspaper Kommersant, said that NATO is ready to cooperate with Russia on the issue of Anti Missile Defense System (AMDS), for the common safety of the region, despite of the harsh words used earlier by Dmitry Medvedev, President of The Russian federation.

“I am pleased to know that President Medvedev has not closed the door yet and there is still scope for further dialogue on the issue of AMDS. We will continue this dialogue with Russia – NATO doors will never close for meaningful dialogue”, said Secretary General, pointing out that the Russian Federation and the NATO Alliance have a common aim in preventing any threat of missile attack.

Rasmussen pointed out that The Russian Federation is also under threat of attack with ballistic missiles, “More than 30 countries are developing advanced missile technology. Some of them already have ballistic missiles that can be fitted with conventional warheads or even warheads of mass destruction. Some of our cities are within their range. To counter the real threats, we need a real defense system.”

Rasmussen said that the member states have put forward three proposals, which should contribute towards cooperation with The Russian Federation. These include transparency in the AMDS program development through exchanges in NATO-Russia Council, organization of Russia-NATO joint exercises in the coming year 2012 and the creation of two joint AMD centers, one for data exchange, another for assistance in planning.

“These proposals suggest that we are serious in our intent for cooperation with The Russian federation.”- concluded the Secretary General of NATO.
These developments come in the wake of last week’s comments by the representative of US to NATO, Ivo Daalder, who said that the US would continue to work on the AMDS in Europe, regardless of what Russia thinks on this matter.

As reported, on November 23, President Dmitry Medvedev had used harsh words to announce the measures Russia would take in response to the deployment of AMDS in Europe by the US. Speaking from the Kremlin, the Head of the state said that Russia would strengthen the protection of strategically important nuclear objects, develop and deploy advanced ballistic missiles to counter the AMDS and develop new warheads that are more efficient.