MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - A group of supporters of the Pan-European Task Force on Cooperation in Greater Europe has called for stopping the ongoing deterioration of the Russia-West relationship.
The statement was made in the Task Force's document signed by 18 politicians, among them former Russian Foreign Minister and President of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Igor Ivanov, former British Defense Secretary Desmond Browne, and former Polish Foreign Minister and Task Force Co-Chair Adam Daniel Rotfeld.
The Euro-Atlantic security system is going through a complicated period, the Task Force members said in the statement seen by Interfax.
"Euro-Atlantic security has grown complicated, dangerous and difficult to improve, with a multitude of unknowns. Russian and Western perceptions of European security differ fundamentally and continue to drift further apart. A serious risk of military confrontation between Russia and the West - intentional or otherwise - lurks down this road," the statement said.
"In such circumstances, an immediate priority is to halt the downward spiral in our adversarial relationship and manage the risks better through a stable and sustainable Russia-West security relationship," the statement said.
"A further priority should be to conduct disciplined dialogue, for the long haul, on the future of European security order, not requiring either side to change its view of fundamental differences but asking of both sides a patient and sustained engagement to improve mutual understanding and confidence," the statement said.
"Such a dialogue should also cover the possibility for collaboration in such areas as offer mutual benefit, based on broader common threat perceptions and on shared values," it said.