MUNICH FORUM IS THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL GATHERING THAT BROUGHT IN NO ACCUSATIONS
AT ALL AGAINST RUSSIA
MUNICH, February 9 /from RIA Novosti's Olga Semyonova, Borislav Pechnikov/ - The
Munich forum was the first international gathering that brought in no accusations
whatsoever against Russia, Russian Defence Minister Igor Ivanov said at
a news conference Saturday after signing with the NATO Secretary General
a framework agreement to cooperate on future submarine rescue operations.
"It was my fourth defence and security conference in Munich, but it was
the first time Russia faced no accusations whatsoever. It is somewhat unusual,"
confessed Mr Ivanov.
Apart from signing the agreement, Sir George Roberston and Mr Ivanov discussed
a series of international problems of current importance. Among other things,
they focused on the North Korea problem, which can evolve into a situation
more dangerous than that surrounding Iraq, the Afghan developments and the
international effort against terrorism at large.
The world is facing a development, with more countries starting to deploy
mass destruction weapons. "It is not clear where their weapons originated
in and how safely they are stored and protected," noted the minister.
Russia once again voiced grave concerns over NATO's new members, the Baltic
republics, which are not signatories to the Treaty on Conventional Armed
Forces in Europe. "Russia cannot but worry about hat fact, and will not
let it be passed over," emphasised Mr Ivanov.
Besides, Russia again condemned a double standard policy towards terrorism, meaning,
above all, the Chechnya problem.
When asked to comment Russia's attitude to a Turkish-American contingent
that had been deployed in Europe's southern flank, and its commitment to
the Treaty, Mr Ivanov said that Russia was meeting in full its flank limitation
commitments, even those under the adapted Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces
in Europe, which had not as of yet been ratified.
As to the joint contingent in Southern Europe, the minister thanked the
Turkish journalist for drawing Russia's attention to such an interesting
detail and promised Russia would take heed of it.
The NATO chief has recently visited Moscow for an international conference,
the agenda of which was dominated by the role the military should play in
countering the terrorist threat, Mr Ivanov recalled when speaking about
a possibility of stepping up the global effort against terror and extremism.
It is far easier to deter the terrorist threat than deal with its terrible consequences.
This is the approach shared by all the civilised countries, including Russia,
said the minister.