MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow expects NATO to take more thorough and constructive steps towards establishing ties in the "twenty" format, a high-ranking military diplomat told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
"The alliance's proposals focus on the format and the procedure," the diplomat said.
"Our view is that the quality of the Russia-NATO cooperation mechanism should change and surpass the format of an optional meeting," the diplomat said. "If we in effect want to transfer from the cooperation framework of the 19 NATO states plus Russia to the "twenty" format, it is necessary to start making decisions together and make joint commitments that will be carried out," he said.
Moscow is interested in "political coordination of decisions in the security sphere" in the "twenty" format, the diplomat went on. "It primarily concerns such fields as response to new threats and peacekeeping. We do not claim the say in solution of military issues. We are ready, as equal partners, to discuss security problems, new threats and challenges, not deployment of troops groups," he stressed.
The diplomat noted that there were problems in finalization of the declaration on the establishment of the "twenty" format. "There is no consensus among NATO member nations concerning elaboration of a new format of relations with Russia," he said.
"We have very little time for finalizing the text of the declaration - the document is to be initiated by the parties at a session of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council in Reykjavik in mid-May, and to be signed by the heads of the 20 nations at a summit in Rome a bit later," the diplomat said.
According to him, "the new format of relations between Russia and NATO in the "twenty" format can influence the future shape of the alliance." "By adopting a closer political partnership with NATO, Russia helps the alliance to survive and acquire a new image. This has to be done at least because it will help evade repetition of the Kosovo scenario," the diplomat said.