Nato foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels on December 2 2008 on a "conditional and graduated re-engagement with Russia," the alliance's secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told journalists.

Nato broke off ties with the Kremlin after the August 2008 Russian invasion of south Ossetia, the territory that seeks to break away from Georgia.

At the same meeting, Nato foreign ministers held back from agreeing to fast-track Membership Action Plans (MAP) for Georgia and Ukraine, although a signal was sent that membership for the two countries could be possible in the long term.

Moscow strongly opposes Nato expanding to include Georgia and Ukraine, and some Nato member states, notably including Germany, France and Italy, also oppose this expansion.

Deutsche Welle reported that German chancellor Angela Merkel on December 2 reiterated her opposition to fast-tracking membership for Georgia and Ukraine. Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a political rival who is running for the chancellorship next year, had last week also firmly rejected a US proposal to admit them quickly.

Of the resumed ties with Moscow, De Hoop Scheffer told journalists that he had been mandated to see "what political contacts can be possible". This should not be seen as Nato endorsement of Russia's actions in Caucasus this past summer, he said.

On December 3, Russian news agency Interfax reported that Russian permanent envoy to Nato Dmitry Rogozin had said that Moscow would "thoroughly analyse" the move by the Nato foreign ministers before making an official statement.

As regards Nato's relations with Russia, Rogozin said that "despite the fact that Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ornamented his statement with all possible niceties, he in fact acknowledged that he had been instructed to come into contact with Russia to resume political dialogue".

"This is the main result of the work that we started right after the August crisis in the South Caucasus," Rogozin said. He said that he could understand "Nato's initial and quite emotional reaction to the August events," but insisted that the reality makes both Russia
and NATO work to restore co-operation.

Also discussed at the first day of the two-day Nato foreign ministers summit was the issue of piracy. An EU naval deployment will take over next week from Nato ships that have been patrolling off the coast of Somalia for more than a month. The ministers agreed to ask the United Nations Security Council for clarity on legal issues related to action against piracy.

In a separate development, Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement that the Nato council had ratified the Individual Co-operation Programme (ICP) with Israel, an agreement that strengthens and expands working relations between Israel and Nato in the fields of security and diplomacy.

The ICP encompasses a broad range of fields in which Israel and Nato will co-operate fully.

"The ministry of foreign affairs is in effect opening the door for co-operation of Israel's security services and Nato in various fields such as counter-terrorism, including the exchange of intelligence and security expertise, increasing the number of joint Nato-Israel military exercises, broadening co-operation in the fight against nuclear proliferation, improving co-operation in the areas of armament and logistics, connecting Israel electronically to the Nato system, etc," the Israeli foreign ministry said.

The commander-in-chief of the Israeli Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Ashkenazi, visited Nato headquarters in Brussels two weeks ago, while Israeli deputy prime minister and foreign minister Tzipi Livni arrived in Brussels on December 2 for the Mediterranean Dialogue part of the Nato foreign ministers meeting.
 
Commenting on the upgrading of relations between Israel and Nato, Livni said: "Israel's defence capabilities are world-famous, and we see the boosting of co-operation between Israel and international security bodies as a strategic goal that adds to Israel's strength".

"The agreement is a practical expression of the values and responsibility shared by the free nations to preserve world security; it signifies genuine recognition of Israel's special contribution to the international fight against extremism," Livni said.