NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer (2nd L Front) addresses the NATO foreign ministers' metting in
the Norwegian capital of Oslo on April 26, 2007. NATO foreign ministers
gathered in Oslo to discuss the alliance's plan to build a strategic
missile defense system and NATO's role in Kosovo, on April 26. (Xinhua/Xu
Jinquan)
OSLO,
April 26 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday
that the alliance was disappointed at a Russian decision to suspend its
obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
In a meeting with NATO foreign ministers, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed President Vladimir Putin's statement
earlier Thursday that Moscow is suspending its obligations under the CFE treaty.
"That message was met by great concern,
disappointment and regret because the allies are of the opinion that the CFE
treaty is one of the cornerstones of European security," de Hoop Scheffer told
reporters after the NATO-Russia meeting.
He said Russia must fulfill the so-called "Istanbul
obligations" -- withdrawal of Russian military bases from Moldova and Georgia in
the eyes of NATO -- before the treaty can be ratified by NATO allies.
The CFE first came into force in 1992 and an adapted
treaty was agreed upon in 1999. So far only Russia, together with Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Ukraine, have ratified the 1999 treaty.
De Hoop Scheffer said the allies will ratify the
treaty in a matter of days, rather than weeks if Russia fulfills the Istanbul
obligations.
He said, however, the NATO countries still adhere to
the rules of the treaty.
Russia argued that there is no legal relationship
between the Istanbul obligations and the ratification of the treaty. NATO does
not think so, according to de Hoop Scheffer.
The CFE issue dominated Thursday's NATO-Russia
Council meeting,said a NATO official, who would not be named. As a result, there
was no mention of the Kosovo issue, which was a potential point of conflict
between the alliance and Moscow.
The two sides also discussed the U.S. plan to deploy
missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
"On missile defense, we do not look eye to eye," de
Hoop Scheffer said.
He said the Russians would not buy NATO's explanation
that the system was not against it.
But he refused to link disputes over missile defense
with the CFE issue, saying NATO would like to look at the subjects in their own
right.
Lavrov told a separate press conference that the U.S.
deployment of strategic components in Russia's doorstep is not justifiable.
Moscow do not see any real threat facing Europe that justifies such a system, he
said.
Russia wants to have a join threat assessment with
NATO and then decide what to do, he said.
MOSCOW, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir
Putin on Thursday said in his national speech that his government would postpone
implementing the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty since the West
made no progress in its ratification.
Signed by NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization in 1990,
the CFE treaty was redrawn in 1999 and a new agreement has been reached. Full story
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