Russian defence minister hopes Lisbon summit to boost relations with NATO.

Text of report by independent German news magazine Der Spiegel website on 25 October

[Interview with Russian Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov; place and date not given: "'We Want Equality': Russian Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyuko on His Country's Relations With NATO, Possible Cooperation in the Development of Missile Defence in Europe, and the Opposition of the Officer Corps to the Military Reform Initiated by the Kremlin"]

[Der Spiegel] Mr Minister, 20 years after the end of the Cold War, one question is still unresolved: Russia's relationship with NATO. There is now hope that your president will travel to Lisbon at the end of November for the NATO summit. It that a breakthrough?

[Serdyukov] Yes, we hope that this meeting will give a new impulse to relations between Russia and NATO.

[Der Spiegel] What might a new relationship look like?

[Serdyukov] There has been substantial cooling since the events in August....

[Der Spiegel] You mean the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008.

[Serdyukov] ...but we are now talking with each other again at the level of chiefs of general staff, defence ministers, and foreign ministers. We are also again cooperating in the fight against piracy on the seas, the training of specialists, and military manoeuvres.

[Der Spiegel] Does Russia actually no longer see NATO as an enemy?

[Serdyukov] I assume that in the near future we will view it as a partner.

[Der Spiegel] Russia has just increased its military budget substantially, however, and wants nearly to double expenditures for new weapons. You are calling for 20 trillion roubles for them through 2020 - that is 476 billion euros. By whom does Russia still feel threatened?

[Serdyukov] The greatest danger is terrorism. We are also concerned about the passing on of technologies for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Naturally, the approach of NATO to the Russian borders, its enlargement to the east, represents a military danger for our country. As for …