NATO has established offices of ad hoc envoys to the Caucasus, and appointed a Deputy Secretary General for contacts with Transcaucasian and Central Asian partners. Russia regards the moves as objective reality, and recognises NATO reasons, what with partners in those regions.
At the same time, as Russia sees it, NATO ought not to start the job from scratch and turn a blind eye to activities long underway there, especially where stability efforts and combat against terrorism and drug trafficking are concerned, remarked the minister.
Russia cannot help feeling alarmed as NATO is building up military activities along its frontiers-and NATO sees Moscow's point. As things are now, NATO regulations of long standing require the military infrastructure of all member countries following certain patterns, so new NATO members, some of which border on Russia, have to spectacularly upgrade theirs.
Much water has flown under the bridge since NATO made its regulations. It is now Russia's partner in an alliance based on transparency, mutual confidence, and reciprocal efforts to dispel alarm and apprehension. There is no longer any reason for NATO to build its security in isolation from Russia. On the contrary, the cause demands close teamwork, stressed Mr. Lavrov.
Russia and the new NATO countries need reliable frontiers between them. These frontiers must be proof against whatever misunderstandings and accidents due to weather or technical predicaments, and Russia hopes for both Parties' military experts to start reciprocal work to that end.
Mr. Lavrov went on to refer to a conference he had with Colin Powell,US Secretary of State, earlier on the day. They took stock of Russian-US partnership in global and European organisations, and joint efforts to settle regional crises. The conferees also discussed the two countries' efforts to step up partnership on the Russia-NATO Council, whose activities closely depend on Russia and the USA for accord and against tentative differences. Available understanding gives ample reasons to hope for practical efforts.
Messrs. Lavrov and Powell also debated bilateral teamwork within the OSCE-Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe-and for Iraqi and Afghan settlement.
It was thoroughly wrong to disband the Iraqi army, police and security service, which had been professional and efficient enough. A dispelled army made Iraqi instability even worse during military occupation by coalition forces, stressed the Foreign Minister.
As he confirmed once again, Russia does not intend to take part in reinstating the Iraqi army and police.
If Iraq is to have a reliable army and law enforcement bodies, the stances of all its political forces must be taken into consideration, pointed out Mr. Lavrov.
Meanwhile, resistance is on, and certain opposition forces are dead set against cooperating with the provisional government. The burning issue comes as one more proof of the need to convene an international conference, which would move the basic Iraqi political forces to reconciliation.
Extreme Iraqi instability has made the provisional government intend soon to introduce a state of emergency.
Now, international backing has the chance to make the situation steadier. An international conference is a must in that respect, too, said the minister.
A reporter asked Sergei Lavrov whether he had quit a Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council session in ostentatious protest. He really left the room with the conference on, but with no political reason at all, the Foreign Minister reassured. He was not alone to do so-as any international forum, the conference envisaged bilateral contacts. Mr. Lavrov, in particular, had seven such conferences with his counterparts of the USA, Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania. Naturally, his seven partners were also absent from the general conference room at the time, remarked the Russian minister as he called the media audience not to bloat up the totally insignificant and perfectly explicable incident.
