STRASBOURG. June 23 (Interfax-AVN) - NATO should convince the Baltic countries and Slovenia to speed up their ratification of the adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), said State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov.
"So far, the alliance, openly or not, has told these countries to refrain from ratifying the treaty until Russia reaches agreements with Georgia and Moldova on the withdrawal of its troops and armed forces. We have achieved agreements with Georgia, and NATO should recognize this and remove its requirement," Kosachyov told Interfax ahead of NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's visit to Moscow.
Moldova is an individual matter, the deputy said. "The alliance needs to recognize that obvious circumstance that the delay in the withdrawal of our military contingent from that country is not linked to the Russian leadership's will or its lack. This is an objective situation, which we cannot sort out without external assistance," he said.
The CFE ratification process has been delayed artificially, Kosachyov said. This delay "leads to broader uncertainty in the military sphere in Europe," the deputy said. Moscow is seriously concerned over the situation, he said.
Talking about Russia-NATO relations in general, Kosachyov said that after the last wave of NATO enlargement, "there was no evident bend towards an anti-Russian policy." At the same time, there were no new elements in the Alliance's operations, he said.
Resolving issues related to bringing new members into NATO has distracted it from the main threat - international terrorism, Kosachyov said. "I think the subject of reforming the alliance will also be raised during the secretary general's visit to Moscow," Kosachyov said.
Discussions will probably focus on the threats posed by extremist groups working in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and "agreements on joint actions are possible in this sphere," Kosachyov said.