NATO''s New Head Seeks Cooperation With Russia

By Dow Jones Business News, October 28, 2014, 07:35:00 AM EDT

BRUSSELS--The new civilian head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said the alliance sought a cooperative relationship with Russia, and said the best way to achieve that was to ensure NATO remained strong.

In his first major policy speech since assuming the role of NATO secretary-general on Oct. 1, Jens Stoltenberg said Russia was NATO's biggest neighbor and both were here to stay.

"We simply can't ignore each other. One way or another, we will have a relationship. The question is what kind of relationship," he said.

"NATO continues to aspire to a cooperative relationship with Russia but to get there Russia would need to want it and to take clear steps to make it possible."

He said the relationship needed to have "greater transparency and predictability" to "make sure that crises don't spiral out of control."

Mr. Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, said the opening of Norway's formerly closed border with the Soviet Union had benefited Russians. Russians had gained from the freedom and prosperity that had come from open borders and integration with the rest of the world.

The speech, which followed a fiery condemnation of NATO and U.S. actions last week from Russian President Vladimir Putin, was less combative toward Moscow than statements from Mr. Stoltenberg's predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

But Mr. Stoltenberg said Russia's actions in Ukraine had severely damaged trust with Moscow and posed a major challenge to alliance security.

NATO needed to remain strong, he said.

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NATO''s New Head Seeks Cooperation With Russia