Despite big defense reductions, Russia will play a major role in NATO's Partnership for Peace, including possible refereeing of disputes in neighboring countries, Defense Secretary William Perry said Friday.
Russia's joining the partnership, a step short of actual membership in the Western alliance, "would be a major event for NATO," Perry said. "Russia is a great power. It's a nuclear power. They would play a very special role."Perry discussed the partnership with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin a day after Russia's defense minister announced the nation would join by the end of the month.
Early Saturday, Perry arrived in Kazakhstan for meetings with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Defense Minister Sagadat Nurmagambetov on defense conversion.
Kazakhstan has already signed military cooperation agreements with the United States and is one of the former Soviet republics that has agreed to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
The Soviet Union maintained 104 SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each carrying 10 nuclear warheads. About a dozen of those missiles have already been retired, and the United States will provide Kazakhstan with $70 million to help destroy the SS-18 silos.
A key concern is the safety of the remaining missiles while they await dismantling. Last month the Russian daily Izvestia reported poor safety conditions at Kazakhstan's two nuclear missile bases, writing that, "One can only be surprised that nobody has stolen an atomic bomb yet." A presidential aide rejected the charge.
The Partnership for Peace was created by NATO to allow former East Bloc nations to demonstrate their commitment to a European alliance without becoming full NATO members.
The Russian government had opposed NATO membership for East Bloc states out of fear that Russia would be isolated against an enlarged alliance. Those objections might diminish if Russia were given the status of first among equals in the partnership program.
Also, opponents of the partnership program in Moscow argue that Russia would cede its position as a major power by lining up as an equal with smaller former Soviet states that are eager to join.
Perry said Russia has "a very great concern with peacekeeping in countries" around its border.