Main news of November 20

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

 

WORLD

* U.S. President Barack Obama called on Congress to approve a landmark arms deal treaty with Russia, warning that a failure to do so would be “a dangerous gamble with America's national security

* Ukraine’s about-face on its NATO ambitions has not had an adverse effect on the military alliance’s desire to see Georgia eventually swell its numbers, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said

* Russia and NATO have completed negotiations on drafting an agreement allowing the alliance to carry supplies to and from Afghanistan across the Russian territory, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted NATO's invitation to participate in the creation of a joint missile defense shield in Europe, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said

* Russia and NATO agreed to formulate terms for missile defense cooperation by June 2011

* NATO officially invited Russia to resume joint theater missile defense exercises

* NATO pledged to hand over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to Afghans by the end of 2014, but also vowed not to leave the country to face the Taliban threat alone

 

RUSSIA

 

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said:

- Russia is ready to participate in a joint missile defense shield in Europe on principles of equality and responsibility

- Moscow will continue dialogue with NATO on a future missile shield in Europe

- Russia is ready to cooperate with NATO in monitoring nuclear programs in other countries

- The "cooling-off period" in relations between Russia and NATO is over

- Russia's accession to NATO is not an option at present but it could become an option if NATO changes