NATO says Russian security proposal is topic for OSCE

Nov 30, 2009, 15:32 GMT

Brussels - NATO officials have seen a new Kremlin-drafted global security pact, but say they feel the matter would best be handled by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

'We think that, for the time being, this is a topic for the OSCE,' said one NATO diplomat on Monday, noting that NATO would of course review the document. The document is expected to be discussed at an OSCE meeting in Athens on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev released details of the 14-point European security pact on Sunday, directing them toward NATO and the European Union.

   The Kremlin, via its website, said the proposal was aimed at finally breaking with the legacy of the Cold War.

Although the OSCE is the 'natural partner' for the issue, NATO officials could very well discuss it Friday when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov participates in a NATO-Russia Council meeting.

'There will be a series of opportunities to ask questions about Medvedev's proposals,' was the word out of NATO. 'There will certainly be no quick answer out of NATO.'

   Medvedev first proposed a Euro-Atlantic security pact during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Japan last year. Western nations then agreed to consider Russia's proposals.

   The United States and Britain has expressed doubt over the need to create another structure alongside NATO for military and political security.

   The pact compels signatories to, for example, in the event of an attack, provide each other with military support. Medvedev has also recently called for a security pact between Vancouver to Vladivostok, without giving details.

   According to the Kremlin, signatories would also be obliged to refrain from strengthening their own security at the expense of other states. Russia sees NATO's eastward expansion toward its border as a threat and wants to block the admission of the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine to the western alliance.