CMLFdA
23/02/2010
Clinton invites Russia to cooperate closely with NATO
AFP, Feb 23, 2010, 07.02am IST
WASHINGTON: US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Monday invited Russia to cooperate more closely with NATO despite their differences, insisting the Atlantic alliance posed no threat to Moscow.
In a speech outlining a vision for NATO in the 21st century, the chief US diplomat said: “Let me state this clearly and unambiguously: while Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them.”
Clinton added: “We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together.”
US president Barack Obama’s administration has worked to ease tensions with Russia that flared under his predecessor George W Bush, but Moscow remains suspicious about US missile defense plans and NATO expansion.
It is particularly worried about former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Clinton welcomed what she called “constructive ideas” in Russian proposals for a new European Security Treaty and a new NATO-Russia treaty, but reiterated US opposition to new treaties.
European security, she said, can be tackled in existing institutions like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the NATO-Russia Council.
“We intend to use the NRC as a forum for frank discussions about areas where we disagree,” Clinton told reporters.
“We will use it to press Russia to live up to its commitments on Georgia and to reiterate our commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states,” she said.
US ally Georgia fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008 over Russia’s support for Georgian breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia—which cooled ties between Moscow and Washington to a record low.
“We will use it (the NRC) to challenge the assertion put forward in Russia’s new military doctrine that NATO’s enlargement and its global actions constitute a military danger to Russia,” she said.
“We will also use the council to advocate on behalf of human rights and individual liberty,” she said, adding Moscow committed to uphold such principles when it agreed to the NATO-Russia Founding Act.
She said the council should also be used to bolster mutual security needs.
Russia and NATO “face a common threat from extremists and drug traffickers in Afghanistan,” she said, recalling cooperation in training counternarcotics officers from Afghanistan and Central Asia.
She also called for greater NATO-Russian openess on armaments, military facilities, and war games.
“NATO and Russia should have a regular exchange of information on posture, doctrine, and planned military exercises, as well as specific measures to permit observation of military exercises and to allow visits to new or significantly improved military installations,” she said.
But Clinton also defended NATO expansion.
“The NATO membership process, which requires applicants to make reforms across their political, economic, and defense sectors, has helped create the stable, democratic Europe we see today,” she said.
“We were glad to see the alliance welcome Albania and Croatia last year. And there can be no question that NATO will continue to keep its door open to new members,” she said.
Following the speech, Clinton was asked whether she could imagine Russia as a future member of NATO. “Well, I can imagine that but I’m not sure the Russians can imagine that,” she replied, causing chuckles.
Francis Lambert
01/03/2010
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