Russia Rejects NATO Comment on Its Military Doctrine

The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday rejected NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Wesley Clark's criticism of its military doctrine."Wesley Clarke seems to have read that document inattentively, or else he had an incorrect translation," said Valery Manilov, first deputy head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff.

During a recent trip to the former Soviet republic of Lithuania, Clarke said the new Russian military doctrine focuses on the protection of its own interests to the detriment of partnership.

Manilov, however, refuted Clarke's assertion."Partnership occupies a pivotal place in the new doctrine. Maybe Mr. Clarke understands this term in his own way," the Interfax news agency quoted Manilov as saying.

The doctrine calls for partnership and for efforts to be made to forestall war and settle conflicts "without using force or resorting to military means", he said.

Manilov also criticized NATO's latest strategic conception, saying the alliance divides its partners into two types: "first class" and" second class."

"This is unacceptable to Russia, which calls for an equal and comprehensive security system to be created," he said.

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