Russia-NATO meet year’s achievement, says Ivanov

He said that the past six months, since the creation of the Council, have shown that this body could be an effective instrument of cooperation between Russia and NATO countries.

‘‘If NATO sets the same priorities and aims as Moscow does, cooperation between Russia and alliance will be growing,’’ Ivanov said, noting that creation of the Council could hardly be expected two years ago.

During the wide-ranging interview, the Russian Foreign Minister said that Russia was no longer standing on the ‘‘verge of nuclear catastrophe.’’ ‘‘We have no external enemies and in this sense we feel secure. But this doesn’t mean we have no enemies at all,’’ he said, pointing to international terrorism, and organized crime.

Answering a question Ivanov ruled out Russia’s participation in the possible military operation by US against Iraq, saying ‘‘there is UN resolution 1441, and we should join efforts to achieve the goals it sets.’’

Meanwhile, Russia found itself on top of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) with six Russian journalists and a British reporter killed in the country while on duty this year. The British reporter was killed in Ingushetia, North Caucasus.

According to the IFJ’s list, a total of 67 journalists and media staff were killed all over the world either while on duty or in relation to their work. Statistically, in the last 10 years, about 600 reporters have been killed, more than 200 of whom were killed in Russia.

In the beginning of 1990s, Russia made the list of the worst working places for journalists.