6 OCTOBER 1997 • NUMBER 60 • ISSN 0966-9175

• NATO-Russia Work Plan:  Text

• Reprinted Document:  Work Programme of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council Until the End of 1997

NATO-Russia Work Plan: Text

By Tasos Kokkinides

At the first ministerial meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC) held in New York on 26 September, NATO and Russia agreed on a work plan for the remainder of 1997. The four-page "Work Programme of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council Until the End of 1997" obtained by BASIC Reports details several areas for practical cooperation and consultation between NATO and Russia. (See text reprinted on page 3)

The PJC was established by the Founding Act signed between Russia and NATO in May 1997. The Founding Act was devised as a means of compensating Russia for its opposition to enlargement of the Alliance by giving Moscow a voice but no veto powers over NATO decisions. The PJC will provide a mechanism for consultations and "to the maximum extent possible, where appropriate, for joint decisions and joint action." Foreign and defense ministers are scheduled to meet twice per year; ambassadors and permanent representatives to the North Atlantic Council (NAC) will meet monthly. PJC meetings at the level of heads of state and government may also take place.

On the eve of the PJC meeting, one NATO official told BASIC Reports that the work plan "will give meat to the bones" of NATO-Russia relations and "will demonstrate to Russia that there are practical, tangible benefits to cooperating with the Alliance." However, hampered by conflicting expectations and objectives, the work plan lacks a clear set of agreed priorities. While NATO officials emphasize the importance of the practical, low-level, cooperative activities, Russia is keen to develop the more substantive issues slated for consultation.

A Russian official acknowledged the "positive contribution" of such practical activities in the context of Russia-NATO relations, but said that Russia "is more interested in establishing political consultations with NATO." He identified Russia's key priorities as agreeing on "common approaches to peacekeeping operations," as well as developing other European security organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "on the basis of [OSCE] equality with NATO."

Military Cooperation
In New York, the two sides reached agreement on increasing military cooperation. A NATO official told BASIC Reports that military-to-military cooperation "is the area where, perhaps, the legacy of the past still needs to be overcome." While Russia signed the Partnership for Peace (PfP) agreement with NATO in 1994, as the NATO official explained, the PfP agreement "remained, unfortunately, a dead letter." Russia had not participated in any NATO exercises since the signing of the PfP agreement, and was overtly skeptical about establishing close military contact with the Alliance.

The PJC work plan contains provisions for intensifying military-to-military contacts. Russia has pledged to initiate a new program of activities within PfP, including joint peacekeeping exercises with NATO. Russian military liaison officers will be based at NATO headquarters. In turn, NATO military officers will be based at the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russian military representation at the major NATO commands is also under consideration. In addition, Russian defense minister Igor Sergeyev will attend the meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Netherlands on 1-2 October. On 23 October, Russian chief of armed forces, General Krashnin, will meet with the NATO military committee in Brussels. According to NATO sources, this meeting will establish the military level of the PJC to oversee military-to-military cooperation between NATO and Russia. Despite this flurry of diplomatic activity, the NATO official cautioned against premature enthusiasm over progress on military cooperation, warning that, "two swallows don't make a summer."

Bosnia
Although Russian forces participate in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, frequent disagreements between Moscow and Washington over its mandate have strained Russia-NATO relations. The NATO official, while acknowledging Russian disquiet about the operation, noted that the Alliance's consultations with Russia on Bosnia had been extensive. He said that in the past twenty-two months there have been "over 80 meetings between SACEUR [Supreme Allied Commander Europe] and the Russian deputy at SHAPE [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe] who is in charge of overseeing Russian participation in the force... [Similarly] NATO's Secretary General has seen Ambassador Vitaly Churkin... on no less than 30 occasions to consult him."

However, a Russian official argued that NATO had generally provided information on developments in Bosnia, but had rarely consulted Russia. He added that "there is no mechanism for regular and institutionalized consultation between NATO and Russia....NATO's motto is 'one mission, one team.' We are part of the team and we must be consulted on a regular basis."

Nuclear Arms Control
The NATO official told BASIC Reports that the Alliance wants to engage Moscow on "an area of concern" – Russia's 10,000 remaining tactical nuclear weapons. He stressed that NATO is "very keen to talk to the Russians about detargeting their weapons" following President Yeltsin's announcement last May that Russian nuclear forces would not be targeted on NATO countries. Russia has since confirmed that its long-range nuclear missiles are no longer targeted on Western states but the precise steps taken to detarget Russian nuclear forces remain unclear. The NATO official said that the Alliance "does not have reliable information" on the remaining Russian tactical nuclear weapons and called on Moscow to be "forthcoming with information about its military doctrine and posture." He also revealed that detargeting will be a major theme of the NATO Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) meeting in December.

Beyond detargeting, the PJC has yet to address formally further steps to reduce the risk of an accidental nuclear launch. The PJC was, however, tasked at the ambassadorial level to set up committees and working groups in the future. This could include a committee to discuss technical options for dealerting nuclear weapons.

Transparency
Controversy is likely to continue over how to communicate discussions and decisions reached by Russia and NATO in New York and future PJC meetings. One official from a PfP country based at NATO Headquarters stressed to BASIC Reports that transparency of the PJC's deliberations is of "vital importance." A senior official from the Baltic states at NATO headquarters said that PfP countries had not yet been briefed on the content of the PJC discussions. "We were told about the content of these meetings less than is contained in the NATO press release," he said. Before the PJC meeting, PfP countries had voiced concerns that Moscow would take advantage of the confidential nature of the talks to force concessions from NATO that would be detrimental to other countries seeking closer ties with NATO.

Another NATO official interviewed by BASIC Reports confirmed that the issue of transparency is "unresolved." He also emphasized NATO's interest in developing a permanent mechanism for regular briefings on the PJC deliberations to "third parties." However, at this stage, Russia wants to limit information flow, and prefers releasing information on an ad-hoc basis.

Next Step
The PJC will assess progress on consultations and practical cooperation between NATO and Russia at its next ministerial meeting scheduled for 17 December in Brussels. 

Work Programme of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council Until the End of 1997

(Excerpts)

... Ministers noted that the first meeting of military representatives under the auspices of the PJC as stipulated by the Founding Act will take place in the near future and tasked the PJC at Ambassadorial level to set up, as appropriate, any committees or working groups on an ad hoc or permanent basis needed to support the implementation of the programme and the PJC, and to consider in particular the establishment of a permanent body for the preparation of PJC meetings.

A PJC at Ambassadorial level in October (or its defence/military component as appropriate) would task subgroups as needed to develop and carry out implementation plans and report as appropriate to it.

Subgroups would provide progress reports to the PJC at Ambassadorial level at its November meeting to seek guidance as required to resolve any difficulties and make progress on work programme implementation.

The PJC at Ambassadorial level would assess the results of the fall work cycle at its early December meeting and report to Ministers for their information, approval and further guidance, as appropriate. The report would indicate which activities have been completed or the state of progress on them, including possible target dates for their completion.

Inititatives aiming at launching practical cooperation would consist primarily of developing concrete cooperation proposals that would be approved by Ministers in December and implemented in 1998. Any consultations under the work programme could lead to practical follow-on cooperation activites; conversely, any practical cooperation between NATO and Russia would be based on full prior consultations...

ACTIVITIES

A. ISSUES FOR NATO-RUSSIA CONSULTATIONS

The following issues would be included in specific individual agenda to be agreed for PJC meetings...

1. Measures to promote cooperation, transparency and confidence between NATO and Russia in broad terms

2. The contribution by NATO and Russia and the role of the PJC in creating a security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic region

3. Bosnia

4. Albania, if developments warrant

5. Political and defence efforts against proliferation of NBC weapons and their delivery means

6. Military strategy, defence policy and military doctrines in NATO and Russia

7. Nuclear weapons issues, including doctrine and strategy

8. Arms control issues, including general discussion on CFE and Open Skies

9. Exchange of views on peacekeeping operations

10. International terrorism

B. ISSUES FOR PRACTICAL COOPERATION BETWEEN NATO AND RUSSIA

1. Peacekeeping

2. Retraining of retired military officers...

3. Defence-related environmental and scientific topics...

4. Civil emergency preparedness and disaster relief...

5. Defence conversion

6. Nuclear safety

7. Defence efforts against NBC weapons and missile delivery systems proliferation

C. IMPLEMENTING THE STRUCTURES MENTIONED IN THE FOUNDING ACT

1. Establishment of defence-related and military cooperation, including liaison missions...

2. Creation of the NATO Documentation Centre in Moscow

3. Encouraging closer relations between the North Atlantic Assembly and the Russian Federal Assembly.

Full text of the work programme is available from BASIC.