NATO defense ministers sought Friday to
find ways to keep the door open to Ukraine's membership, despite
opposition from Russia over the alliance's perceived encroachment into
what Moscow considers its historical sphere of influence, AP reported.
Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO would stick by its commitment to help
Ukraine undertake "comprehensive reforms" in its defense and security
structures and indicated the alliance was still considering ways to let
Ukraine join.
Before a closed-door meeting with Ukrainian Defense
Minister Yury Yekhanurov and ministers from the alliance`s 26 members,
de Hoop Scheffer said NATO officials were considering "ways in which
the alliance can continue to support its preparations for NATO
membership" for Ukraine.
At a summit in Romania last year, NATO
leaders decided to offer Ukraine and Georgia a so-called "membership
action plan" to prepare them to become members.
But faced with
opposition from Russia — and in the wake of the Russian-Georgian war in
August — NATO has since backed away from establishing a plan for the
two former Soviet nations.
However, NATO has offered to step up military and political cooperation to help them achieve their goal of eventual membership.
Before the meeting, Germany`s defense minister expressed his skepticism that Ukraine and Georgia were ready.
"At
the moment I don`t see the conditions for, for example, launching the
membership action plan" for Ukraine and Georgia, Franz Josef Jung said.
The
ministers also took up the issue of reforming the alliance, which has
faced criticism that it could be losing its relevance in a world vastly
different from the post-World War II and Cold War reality that served
as the background to its birth 60 years ago.
To keep it relevant,
de Hoop Scheffer has been calling for a new "strategic concept" that
would help NATO face 21st century dangers like terrorism, climate
change and cyber attacks.
A day before the talks on Georgia and
Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed other issues at
the core of recent tensions between Washington and Moscow — and the
Obama administration`s attempts to improve ties as it seeks greater
Russian support for its mission in Afghanistan.
Gates played down
Kyrgyzstan`s decision to evict the U.S. from the strategic Manas air
base it depends on to supply troops in Afghanistan, a decision
Washington believes Moscow has orchestrated. Gates said the U.S. would
be willing to pay higher rent — within limits — but said the base was
ultimately replaceable.
However, he also said he was skeptical of Russia`s claims to have played no role in Kyrgyzstan`s decision.
Gates
also said the Obama administration needed more time to decide whether
to go ahead with the previous administration`s plans to build missile
defense installations in the Czech Republic and Poland — a program that
soured relations with Russia.
AP via International Herald Tribune
