BRUSSELS. April 4 (Interfax) - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that he is puzzled by Russia's accusations that the alliance is allegedly violating the Rome Convention by putting forth plans to deploy additional troops in Eastern Europe.
"No, of course we haven't violated the Rome Declaration and I'm actually surprised that Russia can claim that NATO has violated its commitments, because Russia is violating every principle and international commitment it has made," Rasmussen said at a press conference in Brussels.
"Russia has undermined all the principles of our relationship and therefore there can no longer be business as usual," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Russia was waiting for NATO explanations about the consistency of its mounting activity in East European countries with Russia-NATO legal documents.
"We have posed these questions to the North Atlantic Alliance. We are expecting not just any answer but an answer fully respectful of the rules we have coordinated," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference after negotiations with his Kazakh counterpart Yerlan Idrisov.
"Speaking of plans to build up the NATO military presence on territories of its East European member states, we naturally proceed from the premise that certain rules exist in Russia-NATO relations, including the Rome Declaration and the Russia-NATO Founding Act, according to which there must be no permanent presence of additional forces on the territories of East European states," the minister underscored.