BRUSSELS, (BELGIUM) May 14: NATO secretary general Javier Solana and Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov, on Wednesday, reached an agreement on a new charter to govern relations after NATO begins its eastward expansion, senior officials said.

The deal still must be approved by NATO governments and Russian authorities, however.

``Decisive progress was reached on key issues of the NATO-Russia document, including its military aspects,'' said a NATO statement.

The agreed text will be submitted for consideration to the NATO governments through the North Atlantic Council and to President (Boris) Yeltsin.

A senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was optimistic the deal would be approved. ``They have reached an agreement which they are comfortable with,'' he said. Final details of the agreement were not immediately available. Both sides hope the agreement can be signed on May 27 in Paris.

Obviously, if Solana is ready to shake hands with Primakov on the text, he must be confident it's a balanced text that will have the political approval of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top policymaking body,'' said the official.

Solana was expected to submit the text to the North Atlantic Council later on Wednesday.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.