Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Friday appealed to Russia not to freeze "indispensable" collaboration with NATO due to disagreement over the recent conflict in Georgia, according to the Italian News Agency ANSA.
NATO said Thursday that Russia had decided to suspend all military cooperation with the organization because of what it saw as pro-Georgia sympathies of its member countries.
"I hope the Russian authorities will rethink their decision to reduce, or worse, suspend their collaboration with NATO," Frattini was quoted as saying.
"I'm absolutely convinced that for Italy, Europe and NATO, military collaboration with Russia is indispensable," he added.
The minister pointed to Russia's collaboration over key issues including Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear programme and the stability of the area between the Russian border and the Black Sea.
"Russia needs us and we need Russia," he said.
NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said earlier this week that it could not be "business as usual" with Russia while the country still had troops in Georgia.
Russia on Friday was still withdrawing troops, five days after it began the process in accordance with a ceasefire deal brokered by the European Union.
Source: Xinhua
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