Tale til NATO-Russlandrådet

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Secretary-General,

Colleagues,

President Medvedev,

Norway and Russia have a shared border in the High North.

We met in Murmansk a couple of months ago to witness the signing of the delimitation line in the Arctic – after more than 40 years of negotiations.

Recently we signed an agreement on visa free border passing for people living in the border areas.

And together we have for many years successfully managed on of the richest fisheries resources in the world in a sustainable way.

This border was also the border between NATO and the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.

I believe this can serve as an illustration of what is possible to achieve in a practical cooperation between NATO and Russia.

And it is an illustration of the untapped potensial for cooperation with a key partner.

I welcome the positive developments in the NATO – Russia relationship.

This meeting should form the basis for renewed and strengthened dialogue and practical cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation.

We should establish cooperation and a close dialogue with Russia on missile defence.

We must join forces to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

We must work to reduce short-range nuclear weapons in Europe,

with the aim of total elimination.

And, we must move forward on conventional arms control.

The CFE regime has been a cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security for the last 20 years.

An early agreement on a mandate for further negotiations would be an important step forward.

I look forward to further developing and expanding our future cooperation with our important and valued partner – Russia.

Thank you.