MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is not planning to cooperate with NATO on military issues in the framework of the new cooperation format of 20, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said.
"Having signed the declaration with NATO, we did not join the alliance. By establishing the new format of relations with the alliance, Russia effectively proposes an alternative format of security cooperation," Ivanov told journalists on Monday.
Ivanov told Interfax-Military News Agency that the Moscow- proposed "format of cooperation on security issues comes as an alternative to military blocs and organizations."
"Russia is not going to cooperate with NATO on military issues. We intend to work together with the alliance on the most urgent problems that are threatening both Russia and NATO members," the defense minister said.
Ivanov said that until the last moment, NATO was not able to forge a consensus on the new relationship with Russia. "Not all NATO members wanted a cooperation format of 20," Ivanov said.
The declaration on the new relationship was signed at the NATO- Russia summit in Rome in late May.