Moscow, June 13: Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov said today he would press his counterparts from Nato at a Brussels meeting to follow through on their earlier promises to cooperate in the joint development on new arms. "Unfortunately a lot of declarations had been made about this, but nothing has been done," Ria Novosti quoted the Ivanov as telling Russian reporters in Brussels ahead of today's talks.
"Among other things, we are talking about the development of new forms of arms," Ria Novosti quoted Ivanov as saying.


Ivanov conceded that some Nato states will not be looking to Russia for military cooperation.


"Of course most Nato states do not think such form of cooperation is possible," the Russian Defence Minister said.
"But there are European states that have a developed military complex with which we could cooperate in the military-industrial sphere," he added.

Ivanov identified France, Germany and Italy as the main countries with which Russia could cooperate in joint military projects, Ria Novosti said.


The Russian Defence Minister was due to attend a meeting today of the year-old Russia-Nato council that was built in order to ease Moscow's concerns about its former soviet-era foe's expansion towards Russia's borders.
Bureau Report