NATO secretary-general to meet with Bush

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON --NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, fresh from a visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, is in Washington for talks about matters including the NATO chief's wish for closer relations between the alliance and Russia.

President Bush and de Hoop Scheffer also were likely to discuss on Friday the alliance's stepped-up role in fighting the Taliban militia in southern Afghanistan and the 26-nation organization's summit next month in Latvia.

De Hoop Scheffer said he wanted to deepen the relationship between Moscow and NATO because of Russia's importance to solving many conflicts. "Russia's active participation for the solution of many conflicts is essential," de Hoop Scheffer told Putin.

Russia signed a partnership agreement with NATO in 2002, outlining cooperation in counterterror, nonproliferation, peacekeeping and other fields. At the same time Putin's government has continued to make public his opposition to the alliance's eastward expansion.

more:http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/10/27/nato_secretary_general_to_meet_with_bush/