ITALY/NATO SUMMIT: Against the background of a 15,000-strong security presence, Russia and NATO leaders turned their backs yesterday on decades of Cold War enmity by creating a new co-operation forum.
At a summit in the military airbase of Pratica di Mare outside Rome, the agreement was signed by President Putin of Russia, President Bush and 18 other heads of government.
It marks a significant post-September 11th change in relations between the former enemies, now seemingly united in the fight against terrorism.
"Two former foes are now joined as partners, overcoming 50 years of division and a decade of uncertainty," Mr Bush told the summit.
Opening the gathering, the NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, said the NATO-Russia Council "begins a new chapter in Euro-Atlantic relations", adding: "The (September 11th) attacks brought a message to the leaders of the democratic world. Find solutions and find them together. There is a common enemy out there, the man and woman in the street knows it and they expect us to address it."
The 20-nation meeting also marked a triumphant climax to Mr Bush's European tour, whose centrepiece was a nuclear arms reduction accord with Mr Putin in Moscow last week. The new council, which gives Moscow an equal voice on issues from terrorism to arms control, was also a diplomatic coup for Mr Putin, who has reached out to the West in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
"The significance of this meeting is difficult to over-estimate. Even only a very short time ago a meeting of this type, bringing together the leaders of Russia and NATO member-states . . . would have been simply unthinkable," said Mr Putin.
He indicated, however, that his pro-Western foreign policy did not give the alliance carte blanche for military action. "It's absolutely fundamentally important to understand that this co-operation of 20 must repose on the stable foundations of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the European security charter."
Mr Putin also signalled that Russia would not abandon security bodies it has set up with 12 former Soviet states - collectively known as the Commonwealth of Independent States - and that NATO should also work with Asian regional bodies.
The summit also represented a major diplomatic coup for the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi. Since taking office last year, he has attempted to carve out a role for himself as an intermediary between Russia and the US. In his anxiety to ensure the summit's success, he agreed to a massive security clampdown and the spending of €12 million on the summit organisation.
Hundreds of troops guarded the perimeter fence, helicopters buzzed over the base and fighter jets patrolled the brilliant blue skies, while out at sea, a naval vessel imposed a 15 km exclusion zone. Furthermore, all Italian airlines and some foreign carriers suspended Rome operations to guard against possible hijackings.
NATO analysts suggested that, despite the new co-operation, risks of confrontation still lie ahead, not least from a possible US-led attack on Iraq.
Under the terms of yesterday's agreement, the NATO-Russia council will meet every month at the level of ambassadors, with foreign and defence ministers each holding their own gatherings twice a year.
Russian sources said defence ministers would gather in Brussels on June 6th, for a meeting focusing on terrorism and arms proliferation.
Although the NATO-Russia Council will take decisions by consensus, Moscow will have no power of veto over positions taken by the 19 transatlantic allies in NATO's main policy-making body, the North Atlantic Council.