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Russia-NATO summit may not take place because of missile defence differences

At the same time, one should not dramatise the situation as it is too early to speak about the summit in Chicago as more meetings with Russia are in store to discuss missile...

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russia-NATO summit in Chicago may not take place because of the disagreements over missile defence, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

At the same time, he said one should not dramatise the situation.

Fogh Rasmussen said it would be too early to speak about the summit in Chicago as more meetings with Russia are in store to discuss missile defence.

He stressed that if no summit takes place in Chicago, this would not mean the end of dialogue with Russia.

Speaking of the March 4 presidential election in Russia, Rasmussen said he hoped for continuity in the Russian leadership’s policy with regard to cooperation with the alliance in order to achieve practical results.

NATO is ready for constructive dialogue with Vladimir Putin who is said to have been elected the new Russian president, Rasmussen said.

He said NATO hopes for Moscow’s further participation in the positive dialogue towards cooperation with the alliance.

He believes that further development of the bilateral dialogue should proceed in accordance with the agreements reached at the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon in November 2010.

Fogh Rasmussen noted that important progress has been reached in key areas over the past year and named security in Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism, illegal drug trafficking and piracy as an example.

He expressed hope that NATO and Russia will be able to move further in other areas, especially on missile defence as both sides would only benefit from such cooperation.

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