MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) — Nordic countries must try to understand the Russian people and its leaders, even if they disagree with their political stance, as it is impossible to uphold security without cooperating with Russia, Thorvald Stoltenberg, Norway's former foreign minister and father of NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, said Thursday.
"We cannot create security without Russia or against Russia," Stoltenberg said in a speech to the Nordic Council, as quoted by the Norwegian VG newspaper.
The former foreign minister, who also served as Norway's Minister of Defense and ambassador to the United Nations, urged Nordic countries to end what he described as "Cold War rhetoric" and try to understand Russia.
"We know that most Russians see the situation in Europe differently to us in the West, and we know that Putin has strong public support. Therefore, we must try and see how Putin and his people think… I, of course, have no understanding for what Russians are doing in Ukraine, but we must try and understand how Russian politicians think. If we do not understand that, it is much more difficult to communicate with them," Stoltenberg told the council.
"I also note with worry that some are using this difficult [political] situation to revive the rhetoric of the Cold War. The situation in Europe is completely different from that of the Cold War," he added, noting in an interview with VG that he felt free to address these issues as he was the only speaker at the council's meeting who was actually an active politician during the Cold War.
According to Stoltenberg, the "Cold War rhetoric" draws attention away from pressing security issues in other parts of the world, especially the Middle East and North Africa.
"In many of these countries, religious extremists are trying to seize power… Here, we are facing major security challenges for western countries as well as Russia," he said.
Stoltenberg also agreed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who in a recent interview with VG underlined the importance of cooperation in the north.
"I share Foreign Minister Lavrov's views. It is important to continue regional cooperation in the north. Especially at a time of turmoil we have to keep a dialogue going. We managed to do this in the north during the Cold War. We must manage this today," he stated.
Relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated following the Ukrainian conflict. Norway, alongside the European Union and the United States, has introduced several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied. In response to the measures, Russia introduced a one-year ban on the import of certain foods products from countries that had introduced sanctions against it, causing significant losses for the Norwegian fish industry.
Thorvald Stoltenberg's son, former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg took office as NATO's secretary general on October 1.
