Russia unhappy with report from NATO wise men

A report presented by NATO's so-called wise men headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madelaine Albright that is devoted to the alliance's new strategy "leaves an ambivalent impression," Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Thursday.

"On the one hand, the report contains many positive ideas concerning Euro-Atlantic collective security. For example, it is a NATO suggestion that the alliance shall cease to be the global policeman," Nesterenko said.

The spokesman also welcomed the report's recommendations on NATO's relations with Russia, anti-missile defense, Afghanistan, arms control among other areas.

"On the other hand, the wise men definitely look at Russia with bias, as if there is still Cold War," he said.

Nesterenko questioned the report's proposal to keep NATO's "freedom of hands," including that beyond the alliance's zone of traditional responsibility.

"Russia is surprised by the report's description of Moscow's European security initiative as targeted against NATO," Nesterenko said.

The report was presented in NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday by the 12-member group that included representatives of the U.S., Canada, Britain, German, France, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Latvia and Greece. The report's authors proposed the alliance to start building the controversial anti-missile defense system.

NATO was ready to spend about 250 million U.S. dollars for building the "umbrella" that covers all Northern hemisphere. The alliance also claimed that the system is designed to deter possible Iranian nuclear threat. However, Moscow believed the system might have an anti-Russian purpose.

The report will be used as guidelines for the NATO summit scheduled in Lisbon in November.

Source: Xinhua