NATO: NATO expansion no threat to Russia!

Just as its name NATO reflects no reality so does its rhetorical response to Russian claims. Of course NATO expansion is a threat to Russia. The whole idea is to surround Russia and contain its influence. The strategy is fraught with the danger of renewing Cold War conflict and in the case of Georgia this is exactly what it has done. The West has promoted and subsidised different color revolutions in Georgia and the Ukraine. The Orange revolution in Ukraine has gone rotten and the former leader and president of the Ukraine polled a miserable six percent and his fiery rival looks to have been defeated by a pro-Russian candidate for president.


Russian doctrine does not reflect real world: NATO
By David Brunnstrom David Brunnstrom
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – NATO said on Saturday a new Russian military doctrine identifying NATO expansion as a threat did not reflect the real world and undermined efforts to improve ties between the Western military alliance and Moscow.

Russia was angered by NATO expansion to include former Warsaw Pact states after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was particularly incensed by the alliance's promise of eventual membership to Georgia and Ukraine, former Soviet republics Moscow still considers part of its sphere of influence.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the new military doctrine on Friday.

"I have to say that this new doctrine does not reflect the real world ... NATO is not an enemy of Russia," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.

"It does not reflect realities and it is in clear contradiction with all our endeavors to improve the relationship between NATO and Russia."

The doctrine identifies one of the "main external threats of war" as NATO's expansion east to Russia's borders, and sees U.S. plans to create an anti-missile shield in Europe as a concern for national security.

Rasmussen said NATO was keen to develop a strategic partnership with Russia and to expand cooperation in Afghanistan, where the two sides share security concerns.

He said he would stress these issues in a meeting in Munich with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"I have urged Russia to step up their engagement in Afghanistan. I have presented proposals to the Russians when I visited Moscow in December as to how they could further their engagement," Rasmussen said.

"I think Russia and we share the same interests in success in Afghanistan."

LIMITS TO COOPERATION

Russia has agreed to allow land transit of non-lethal NATO supplies to Afghanistan and pledged to do all it can to help the alliance's troubled Afghan effort, short of sending troops.

However on his December visit to Moscow, Rasmussen failed to get immediate firm pledges of additional assistance for Afghanistan, including expanded transit options, helicopters and more support for training Afghan security forces.

During that trip Rasmussen rebuffed the Kremlin's call for new defense arrangements in Europe, saying he saw no need for a new security treaty proposed by Russia.

Medvedev published a draft post-Cold War security pact on November 29, saying it could replace NATO and other institutions and restrict the ability of any country to use force unilaterally.

NATO countries have reacted skeptically, seeing the Russian plan as an attempt to divide the alliance and saying that the existing Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the right place to discuss security issues.

Rasmussen inherited an extremely strained relationship with Russia when he took over at NATO from Jaap de Hoop Scheffer last year and has made improving ties with Moscow a priority, stressing shared global security worries.

NATO froze ties with Moscow over Russia's 2008 intervention in Georgia and has only gradually resumed formal contacts.

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