The European security treaty provisions
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin detailed Moscow's view on the European Collective Security Treaty. Speaking about foreign policy issues at an international conference on humanitarian law in St Petersburg, he formulated the so-called "Three No" principles.
According to the Prime Minister, the treaty should be based on three principles: "First, it should guarantee that one nation's security is not ensured at the expense of another's. Second, it should prevent any country, military union, or coalition from taking any actions that could weaken common security and unity. And third, it should prevent the development and expansion of military unions from harming other parties in the agreement."
Mr Putin also said that Russia proposed that the new document stipulate basic parameters of control over armaments.
President Dmitry Medvedev proposed this initiative on June 5 in Berlin. It was discussed at a Russia-EU summit in Nice on November 14, and the meeting's participant decided to continue discussing this issue at the upcoming OSCE summit in 2009. It was the first time Mr Putin had detailed Moscow's position.
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, believes that the future agreement will not allow situations when one country makes decisions without consulting the agreement's other participants. It concerns not only conventional armaments, but also situations similar to the Polish and Czech scenarios of missile shield system deployment, i.e. tactical and strategic armaments.
The new draft of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) remains a key issue, Anatoly Tsyganok of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis said. In December 2007, Russia suspended its compliance with the CFE Treaty because its European partners did not ratify the adaptation agreement, saying that Russia still had its forces in Georgia and Transdnestr.
Nikolai Topornin, director of the European Information Centre in Russia, said that the future of the treaty would be discussed at an upcoming meeting of OSCE foreign ministers on December 4 in Helsinki, and at an OSCE summit.
The results of the visit.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Peruvian President Alan Garcia signed an agreement between the Oboronprom corporation and the Peruvian Defence Ministry on establishing a maintenance and overhaul centre for Mig Mi-8, Mi-17, and Mi-26T helicopters in Peru.