Nursultan Nazarbayev welcomes Improved Relations between Russia and NATO

    The Lisbon summit last week brought pledges of cooperation on missile defense, Afghanistan and other matters.
    Speaking on the Russian television program "Vesti," Nazarbayev said, "This convergence was natural. It's time for these encounters, and we should take this as a positive factor."
    "Drug trafficking, piracy … today we see what is happening on the Korean peninsula. This requires an international force, which will protect our planet and humanity. And here, Russia's participation is natural. ... And they understand in NATO they cannot do that without Russia," the Kazakh president was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.
    Russia and NATO have drafted a deal letting the alliance transport supplies to and from Afghanistan across Russian territory, according to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
    The NATO-Russia Council has agreed to resume theater missile defense exercises and continue cooperation against ballistic missile threats and sea piracy, according to United Press International.