SG/UN: The Secretary-General and I have had very good discussions on NATO-UN relationship and how to deepen our cooperation. As you know, we are cooperating very closely in several theatres: Kosovo, Afghanistan and, recently, in Darfur region of the Sudan. And we have also had an opportunity of cooperating closely in the past in Bosnia, Croatia, and the former Yugoslavia, and that relationship and that cooperation has benefited both Organizations. So we have reviewed a whole range of issues and how we can reinforce each other's activities around the world, and we intend to continue this discussion and find ways and means of working even more closely together.

SG/NATO: I can echo the Secretary-General's words in the sense that we prove, in practice, in the different theatres that the United Nations and NATO can work very effectively together. And I think, and that was one of the reasons I asked to see Secretary-General Annan, that I think we could - and we can and we should - bring our relationship at a more structural level –that is what we are discussing at the moment, between the different staffs and between Secretary-General Annan and myself. The second subject we discussed, where we worked together, was Afghanistan, where it is of great importance that the international community as a whole - not only NATO, but the United Nations first of all, the European Union, the World Bank, the G-8 –stays committed to that country after the successful elections of yesterday. Of course, President [Hamid] Karzai and the Afghan people own the process, but we will support them and we need a framework, a strong framework, in which the United Nations and NATO will participate as much as they can.

SG/UN: I think Afghanistan is a good example. They assured security and we focused on the elections, and it has been a success. Obviously, after the elections, we have to look down the road and see how the international community can help the Afghan people in the medium to the longer term, as they begin to reconstruct and stabilize their country. And so I want to thank you very much for this wonderful cooperation.

SG/NATO: Thank you very much indeed.