ARMENIA CAN COOPERATE WITH NATO WITHOUT JEOPARDIZING ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA

“NATO needs Armenia and Armenia needs NATO”, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of North Atlantic Alliance said Friday at his meeting with Yerevan State University student and added that president Kocharyan had stated the same.

The head of the Organization also said ties between the ATO and Armenia couldn’t become closer at the expense of Russia.

Scheffer said the Alliance is doing the same with Russia. In his words, NATO shouldn’t be considered in South Caucasus as rival.

One of the students present at the meeting asked if three South Caucasus countries are viewed as a unit and may join NATO together.

Scheffer answered “no”. Each country is considered separately. Each of these three countries has own stance on that.

In particular, Georgian president Mikhil Saakashvili is steadfast in his determination to join NATO. Unlike Georgia, Armenia hasn’t made such a statement so far.

While speaking, the head of the NATO several times stressed Armenia’s closer ties with the organization couldn’t jeopardize Armenian-Russian relationship, as NATO understood how important strategic partnership between the two countries was.