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President Vladimir Putin:

Dear Mr. General Secretary, dear colleagues,

I am very glad to welcome you to Moscow. And I welcome you not just as the General-Secretary of NATO, but also as the head of the Russia-NATO council. I very much hope that the positive beginning that was made almost two years ago – we will soon celebrate the second anniversary, I believe the treaty was signed on 28 May – that this positive beginning which was made in Rome, will be intensified. On our part at least, we intend to do all we can to ensure that relations between Russia and NATO develop positively.

Mr. General-Secretary, you know our attitude to the problem of NATO expansion, this position is well-known, and it remains unchanged. And indeed, experience shows that this mechanical expansion does not allow us to effectively oppose the primary threats that we face today. This expansion cannot prevent, for example, terrorist acts in Madrid or help us to solve the problem of rebuilding Afghanistan. But there are also elements which we should pay attention to, and which we should agree on. Every country has the right to choose the option that it considers most effective for ensuring its own security. And secondly, perhaps most importantly: we hope that the expansion will help strengthen trust in Europe, and all over the world, and will be a tool and component of international security.

To achieve this, it is of course necessary to raise the degree of trust between NATO and Russia, and this is why I began the talk with the expansion and strengthening of the Russia-NATO council, which we consider to be very important.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: Mr. President, I want to thank you for receiving myself and my delegation so warmly on my first visit in this new position, as the General-Secretary of NATO. I would like to join the people who congratulated you on being elected for a second presidential term.

During your presidency and my term as the General-Secretary of NATO, we have a great responsibility for building serious partnership that is necessary in relations between Russia and NATO. The most important reason for my coming to Russia, on my first visit here, is that we should do everything in our power to strengthen our relations on the basis of the Russia-NATO Council which has existed for two years, and find an opportunity for cooperation in the conditions of an expanded NATO.

I can understand the Russian reaction to the expansion of NATO, and why ordinary citizens ask what this will lead to. I can understand this. I want to stress that a great deal of work lies before us in public diplomacy, to assure everyone that neither old or new NATO members have any intention to station significant numbers of troops on their territories. These nations have no intention not to observe all the statues of the CFE treaty, although some of them have not even signed this document.

This is a matter of different psychology. It depends on the leadership of Russia and NATO, it depends on us, whether we can prove that the people who have doubts are mistaken. To do this, we must determine the capabilities of joint work.

I think, Mr. President, that the problems before us are simply too serious – terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Iraq, you named some of them yourself – for Russia or NATO to solve them alone. And we greatly appreciated the decision to send the Russian Foreign Minister to the Russia-NATO Council meeting last Friday, because this clearly showed how seriously you treat this Council, just as we do.

And I sincerely hope, Mr. President, that the invitation to take part in the Russia-NATO summit in Istanbul for heads of state and governments, which my predecessor sent you, will be accepted. I am certain that all NATO members appreciate this very much. Of course, further discussion is required on this matter, and the meeting should have the appropriate contents.

In conclusion, I want to assure you that strengthening of relations between Russia and NATO is my personal aim and duty as General-Secretary.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much. Dear Mr. General-Secretary, I would like to say that you noticed correctly: Mr. Lavrov’s presence in Brussels was no coincidence. You will agree with me that this was no ordinary event. And it was also not easy for us to make the decision for the Russian Foreign Minister to go to Brussels at this time. I say this quite frankly.

We did this intentionally, to emphasise our intensions for joint work in the future.