Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, said that at Lisbon summit NATO and Moscow made “a significant step forward” towards boosting cooperation, but also said that differences, including on Georgia, remain.
 
“One of the most serious differences probably is about our assessment of 2008 events – attitude towards what has happened in August, 2008, towards those geopolitical changes, which occurred at that time; in particular emergence of two new states – South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But we [Russia and NATO] have noted that this issue should not become a stumbling stone,” Medvedev said while speaking at a news conference after NATO-Russia Council meeting in Lisbon on November 20.

“We have agreed that [differences] should not disrupt our relations,” he said. “On the contrary, we should work on finding ways out of these difficult situations. We should work on hearing each others’ arguments.”

Medvedev said that in overall the Lisbon summit was “a significant step forward towards strengthening our relations” and for that reason, he added, this summit was “a historic event.”