Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called the recent Russia-NATO summit historic. "The meeting... was historic in terms of its spirit and atmosphere," Medvedev told Polish media shortly before his visit to Warsaw, adding that efforts should be made in order not to lose the summit's groundwork and to bring relations to a new level. The NATO-Russia Council meeting was held as part of the two-day NATO summit in Lisbon in late November. The meeting saw the highest-level talks between the 28-member alliance and Moscow since Russian troops moved deep into Georgia in August 2008 as part of a campaign to defend the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Medvedev is paying his first state visit to Poland on December 6-7, marking a new stage in relations between the two countries.