STRASBOURG, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders of NATO members have agreed to resume the work of the Russia-NATO Council, suspended by the alliance unilaterally after the Georgian conflict last year, the German chancellor said Saturday.
"We agreed to resume the work of the NATO-Russia Council," Angela Merkel told journalists after a NATO Council session.
The work of the Russia-NATO Council was suspended by the alliance unilaterally in September 2008, after Russia's retaliation to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia in August.
Russia's envoy to the military alliance, Dmitry Rogozin, earlier said the "period of estrangement" in Russia-NATO relations is "largely behind us."
NATO also urged Russia in a statement Saturday to reverse its decision to recognize the independence of former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
