Nato wary of Russian treaty plan

Russia is pushing for a new "treaty on European security" to govern East-West relations, arguing that Nato is a Cold War relic.
Nato officials say such a treaty would weaken the alliance and reward Russian "aggression".

The proposal also contained what could be seen as a veiled threat. Russia wants a new agreement on "comprehensible" rules of the game, "to avoid having to rely exclusively on national means... to ensure security".

Nato strategists are worried at the growing list of what they see as belligerent Russian actions:

• Its seizure of territory in Georgia and unilateral recognition of breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia
• Its latest use of natural gas as a political tool this month, aimed at least partly at discrediting Ukraine as a would-be Nato member
• What US officials say is Russia's abandonment of democracy

A western diplomat at the Wilton Park meeting responded acidly that Russia had trampled on the rules of international conduct by its military action in Georgia, and was now demanding the West's acceptance of that violation as a condition of further dialogue.

"Russia's action in Georgia was no aberration. It may have become the norm."

"Russia is aggressively trying to establish its sphere of influence and to rewrite the rules based on Russian national interest, not on international rules."

But some European leaders have voiced sympathy with Russia's call for a new security set-up - notably France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy gave further encouragement to the Russians by saying that the US missile defence system would not help Europe's security, and might harm it.

Russia has also let it be known that it wants to build a naval base for its warships on the Black Sea in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, which would break last year's ceasefire accord again.

And Russia is still refusing to let OSCE military monitors return to South Ossetia to restore an international security presence there, six months after the fighting.

The issue could be politically explosive for Nato. A national security adviser to Polish President Lech Kaczynski, Witold Waszczykowski, said at Wilton Park that Russia's security treaty idea was aimed at "the dissolution of Nato". Poland, he added, would block any high-level meeting to discuss it.

"Russia must not have a veto on which countries can join Nato. If we concede that we're finished."

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