Panorama.am
17:42 22/08/2008
Russia suspends military cooperation with NATO
NATO has received a note from Moscow saying that Russia would break
off military cooperation with the west’s military alliance.
The British `Guardian’ reports that the move is the latest fallout
from Russia’s short, sharp war with Georgia.It appeared to be a
tit-for-tat response to NATO’s announcement this week that there could
be "no business as usual" as long as Russian forces remained in
Georgia. Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels had decided that the
NATO-Russia council would no longer meet for the time being.
The council, set up in 2002, paved the way for cooperation on several
projects. They included the participation of Russian warships in NATO
Mediterranean counter-terrorism patrols, sharing expertise to combat
heroin trafficking from Afghanistan and developing battlefield
anti-missile technology.
An alliance spokeswoman, Carmen Romero, today said NATO had received
notification through military channels that Russia’s defense ministry
had taken a decision "to halt international military cooperation
events between Russia and NATO countries until further instructions".
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, suggested that NATO
needed Moscow more than Moscow needed NATO.
He said Russian cooperation with NATO efforts against militants in
Afghanistan could be jeopardized, adding: "Russia’s help is critical
for NATO." Lavrov added that after this week’s emergency meeting in
Brussels, during which NATO "adopted a sharp but not very concrete
document" on how to deal with Russia, "leading alliance members came
to us and whispered in our ears, hoping that we do not halt
cooperation with NATO on Afghanistan"."Everything depends on NATO – if
their priorities go to the unconditional support of the bankrupt
Saakashvili regime to the detriment of partnership with NATO, it’s not
our fault."
The US played down the significance of the Russian decision, saying
NATO had already effectively frozen cooperation in protest at Russia’s
continued military presence in much of Georgia.
NATO warships entered the Black Sea for what the alliance said were
long-planned exercises and routine visits to ports in Romania and
Bulgaria. NATO said the exercises were not linked to the conflict in
Georgia, which lies on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, around 550
miles from the Romanian coast. The three warships – from Spain,
Germany and Poland – sailed into the Black Sea today and are due to
joined by a US frigate, the USS Taylor, later this week.
The move could irritate Russia, which has deployed ships from its
Black Sea fleet to the Georgian coast.
Source: Panorama.am