Obama administration is not ruling out NATO membership for Russia

September 30th, 2009 Russia ready for restoration of ties with NATOMOSCOW — Russia is ready to fully restore cooperation with NATO which was suspended in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war, the Kremlin said Wednesday. A planned trip to Moscow by NATO's secretary-general should demonstrate that the alliance is also ready for developing ties, said Nataliya Timakova, a spokeswoman for President Dmitry Medvedev.

September 18th, 2009 NATO proposes link with Russia's missile defenseBRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged the Western alliance and Russia to consider linking their defensive missile systems. He says NATO and Russia have a shared interest in combatting the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missile technology in other countries.

July 26th, 2009 Medvedev chides NATO over Georgia, UkraineMOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday NATO is beginning to realize that Georgia and Ukraine should not be "dragged" into the alliance. "The understanding that these respected states are not ready to make this sort of decision and that the alliance is not ready to absorb them is gradually understood," Medvedev said in remarks televised by NTV television.

July 22nd, 2009 NATO, Russia consider ways to boost cooperationBRUSSELS — Diplomats from NATO and Russia met on Wednesday to discuss ways of cooperating in the battle against pirates off Somalia and supplying alliance forces fighting in Afghanistan. Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said Russia wanted to set up an international criminal court to try captured Somali pirates, rather than prosecuting them in local courts in countries such as Kenya.

July 20th, 2009 Biden to support Ukraine despite Russian resetKIEV, Ukraine — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is due in Kiev for a three-day visit to pledge continued support for Ukraine's westward drive, despite Washington's efforts to improve relations with Russia.

June 7th, 2009 Obama, Sarkozy disagree Turkey's entry to EUCAEN, France — President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy don't see eye to eye on whether Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union. Obama supports EU membership for the largely Muslim country.

May 31st, 2009 NATO, partners wrap up Georgia military trainingVAZIANI, Georgia — Georgian and Ukrainian troops neutralized simulated suicide bombers and a mock mob on a wind-swept hilltop military base near the Georgian capital Sunday as part of monthlong military exercises that have angered Russia. NATO is training soldiers from the two Westward-leaning former Soviet states, along with two other aspiring NATO members, at the Vaziani military base not far from the separatist South Ossetia province, where war between Russia and Georgia erupted nine months ago.

May 9th, 2009 Analysis: Obama's support of Georgia untestedWASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama courts closer relations with Russia, U.S. ally Georgia has plenty of reasons to be nervous.

May 6th, 2009 TBILISI - NATO started an exercise in Georgia Wednesday despite Russia's fierce criticism and following a revolt at a military base outside the capital Tuesday. Russia has criticised the drills, to run until June 1, as a provocation in the light of the brief war last August, when Moscow sent troops to repel Georgia's attack on South Ossetia.

May 5th, 2009 Lavrov pulls out of Russia-NATO meetingMOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister has pulled out of a NATO-Russia Council meeting planned for Brussels this month to protest the alliance's upcoming military exercises in Georgia and the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from its headquarters, a senior diplomat said Tuesday. Sergey Lavrov's decision to withdraw from the May 19 meeting was based on concerns about the exercises that start Wednesday and over the expulsions last week, which were in apparent retaliation for a spy case dating back to February, Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said in televised comments.

April 5th, 2009 STRASBOURG - The leaders of NATO member states have agreed to relaunch talks with Russia in the framework of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), suspended by the alliance unilaterally after the Russia-Georgia military conflict. 'Despite our current disagreements, Russia is of particular importance to us as a partner and neighbor,' they said in a declaration issued at a two-day summit marking the 60th anniversary of the bloc here Saturday.

April 1st, 2009 BRUSSELS - NATO Wednesday welcomed a joint declaration by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on nuclear arms control and on further cooperation in Afghanistan. 'Obviously NATO-Russia relations are heavily influenced by bilateral relations between the United States and Russia,' said NATO spokesman James Appathurai in Brussels.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he backs the expansion of NATO to European countries aspiring to join the alliance but also pledged to work towards re-invigorating US-Russian relations. Obama, meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer just a week before the alliance summit in Germany and France, also said he will present his administration's strategic review of the mission in Afghanistan to other members.

March 5th, 2009 BRUSSELS - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at NATO's headquarters in Brussels Thursday for talks with fellow foreign ministers on the alliance's strategy in Afghanistan and on its intention to re-engage with Russia. The meeting is the first by the new chief diplomat of the US, whose allies expect her to offer a listening ear while in Brussels.

January 23rd, 2009 TASHKENT - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Moscow is ready to cooperate with NATO on the Afghan issue, even as he has welcomed US President Barack Obama's plans to review US policy in the war-ravaged nation. 'We hope the new US administration will have greater success than the previous one in resolving the Afghanistan issue,' Medvedev said Friday on the second day of his two-day visit to Uzbekistan.