Nato: Putin to set positive tone
2008-04-02 08:48
Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin will skirt confrontation at a Nato summit in Bucharest this week and instead focus on "positive points" of co-operation, Russian newspapers said on Wednesday.
"There will be no political collision," said Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the government-owned daily. Despite disagreements between Moscow and Washington "there is hope" that a stand-off can be avoided, the newspaper said.
Russia has reacted angrily to plans by Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics, to join Nato and is opposing US plans to site missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.
But expectations are high that Russia at the summit will unveil an agreement that would allow Nato to establish an overland transport route to northern Afghanistan, something that would herald unprecedented co-operation.
"It is clear that Putin's speech in Bucharest will not be of a confrontational character," said the Vremya Novostei daily.
Putin "will try to concentrate on the positive points of co-operation between Russia and Nato," said the daily, citing Kremlin sources.