Agence France-Presse,
Russia warned NATO on Tuesday against policies that could destabilise security in Europe, but both sides agreed to continue talks on deep divisions between the former Cold War foes.
After meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in turn said Russia's threatened pull-out from a key arms control pact would be “a very negative development.”
The NATO chief also said that Russia should not resort to strident diplomacy in disputes. “That's no reason to start worrying, no reason to use the same old stereotypes. That's no reason to use the megaphone,” he told reporters.
De Hoop Scheffer met with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks on disputes ranging from US plans for missile defence to Western backing for independence in Kosovo to the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
Russia and NATO need to ensure “each other's security and not take steps aimed at strengthening someone's security at the expense of someone else,” Lavrov said at a Russia-NATO Council meeting in Moscow.
“We value our NATO partners' readiness to discuss these questions openly with us,” Lavrov said. These issues “concern key aspects of European, international security, strategic stability,” he added.
At a meeting with Putin later on Tuesday, de Hoop Scheffer also stressed the importance of dialogue between Russia and NATO, saying there was “no alternative for a good, healthy Russia-NATO relationship.”
Putin said there had been major progress in Russia-NATO relations.
“We have moved from a period of confrontation to cooperation with the organisation. Naturally, this is big, multifaceted work, and it cannot happen without problems,” he said.
The NATO chief said he discussed the CFE treaty “at length” with Putin, as well as the question of Russia's opposition to Western moves in the United Nations to pass a resolution that would give Kosovo near full independence.
“My plea for President Putin was please make sure sooner rather than later that there will be a Security Council resolution deciding on the future status of Kosovo,” de Hoop Scheffer said.
On the CFE treaty, he said the pact was “a cornerstone of European security” and a possible Russian pull-out “would be a very negative development and I would very much deplore that.”
Putin earlier threatened that Russia would cease abiding by the Cold War-era treaty, which imposes limits on military deployment, in retaliation against US plans to deploy missiles and a radar in Central Europe.
Washington says the missile defence system would guard against potential Iranian or North Korean attacks on Europe, while Moscow insists that Russia is the real target.
Russia is also furious at NATO's expansion into former Soviet territory, with Georgia and Ukraine being the latest former Soviet republics to seek membership.
De Hoop Scheffer was in Moscow on the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Russia-NATO Council, which sought to build cooperation at a time when the military alliance was looking to expand into eastern Europe.
The government-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily said de Hoop Scheffer would be looking to get a feel for Russia's position on the disputed security issues ahead of crucial talks between Putin and Bush next week.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta commented that communication between NATO and Russia had broken down: “The truth of the matter is that dialogue has recently come to resemble two monologues.”
