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The Times (UK)
March 16, 2002
Russian bid to 'weaken' Nato alienates West
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
ATTEMPTS by Nato and Russia to forge a new security partnership have broken down because Moscow is trying to weaken the power of the alliance, according to Western diplomats.
A document presented by Yevgeni Gusarov, the Deputy Foreign Minister, demands that any decisions taken by the 19 Nato members and Russia should be permanently binding on the alliance.
Moscow also wants a joint secretariat at Nato headquarters in Brussels.
One diplomat said that the Russians were trying to go “too far” in forging new links with Nato and were attempting to emasculate the power of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s principal decision-making body.
The aim of the present negotiations is to produce a special forum that will enable Moscow and the 19 members of Nato to consult and plan together on issues of shared concerns such as terrorism, peacekeeping, theatre missile defence, nuclear non-proliferation, search and rescue and civil emergencies.
At present there is a Nato-Russia Permanent Joint Council, which was set up in 1997, but Moscow has always complained it is just a talking shop.
Renewed impetus for a more practical partnership with Moscow was generated after the September 11 attacks in the United States when President Putin offered his full support for the American War on Terror.
Last November, Tony Blair wrote to President Putin suggesting a new formula, under which Russia and Nato would work together as equal partners — 20 countries reaching consensus on specific areas.
The Prime Minister proposed a Russia/North Atlantic Council, which would have regular meetings. In all other security matters, including decisions about going to war, the North Atlantic Council would retain its full decision-making powers without the presence of Russian officials.
However, the Western diplomats said that Moscow had taken this idea and proposed what amounted to a new arrangement that would supplant Nato’s independence.
The document presented by Mr Gusarov makes only one reference to Nato and then goes on to refer to a new consultative process between Moscow and 19 individual countries.
“It goes back to the bad old days when Moscow used to promote the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe as the only security bodies,” one diplomat said.
The plan had been to reach a final agreement on the format for a new security partnership by the time of the next Nato foreign ministers’ meeting, which is in Reykjavik in May.
This could then be formally adopted by Nato heads of Government at the summit in Prague in November.
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