MOSCOW, April 12 (Xinhuanet) -- It is "inevitable" that Russia will eventually revise its policy on member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying Tuesday.

    "To join or not to join is the internal affair of a sovereign state. We won't interfere in this process. Trying to influence it is futile," Ivanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling Russian magazine Itogi.

    The minister predicted that no CIS member will join NATO in the next five to seven years since NATO is not ready to accept them.

    But Ivanov said he does not rule out the possibility that "this may eventually happen" sometime in the future.

    "Then a certain reassessment of our policy on these countries will be inevitable," he said. "There may be a change in these countries' policies on Russia as well."

    "The process of globalization is underway and all modern threats -- terrorism, nuclear proliferation -- are beyond the geographical zone of NATO and Russia," Ivanov said.

    The minister is also reported to have told Itogi that Russia will work with NATO to develop a battlefield anti-missile system.

    "We plan to create an effective battlefield anti-missile system in Europe...to protect all areas on the European continent which may be attacked by missiles," Ivanov said.

    He stressed that developing the system is among the top priorities of Russia-NATO cooperation.

    "No country is capable of creating such a system on its own," the minister said. "That is why Russia and NATO have decided to cooperate in this area." Enditem