STILL NO BREAKTHROUGH IN NATO-RUSSIAN TALKS.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 90

A fifth round of talks yesterday between Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov and NATO secretary general Javier Solana failed to produce a breakthrough on a long-awaited NATO-Russian political agreement, but there were signals from both sides that success may be around the corner. As has been the case following their previous meetings, neither Solana nor Primakov had much to say publicly after last evening’s meeting in Luxembourg. But a joint communique issued by the two men did say that some progress had been made in the talks and that the two sides had agreed to "intensify their work with the aim of reaching an agreement at the earliest possible date." Unidentified NATO sources, moreover, indicated afterward that the talks had been conducted in a friendly atmosphere, and they suggested that there is still hope that an agreement might be ready for signing by May 27. The next round of talks will apparently be held shortly, in Moscow, but neither side disclosed a date. (Reuter, AP, May 6)

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