The Russia-NATO Joint Permanent Council was set up in 1997 for regular consultations on security and defense issues. The council was designed to give Russia a voice, but not a veto, over NATO's internal decisions.
"I would not bury the Russia-NATO Council," Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Berlin following talks with his German counterpart.
The council suspended its work following NATO-led air strikes against Yugoslavia in 1999 until a new Russia-NATO Council was established in 2002, adding anti-terrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to areas of cooperation.
The Russian minister said Moscow was interested in the continued operation of the council. "It [the Council] is turning five this year, and my colleagues and I have agreed to hold a special session," the minister said, adding it would be convened this summer.
"The council can be an effective instrument if all its members follow the coordinated basis of a collective approach to decision-making," the Russian minister said.
Lavrov said the principles underlying the Russia-NATO Council provided for far more advanced security cooperation and crisis management than the ones "we are using in [security] relations with the European Union."
