'Nobody wants a new Cold War'

24 July 2007

by David Blair

London: Russia should abandon its "confrontational" rhetoric and join the Western allies to combat the common threats of terrorism and failed states, the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) said on Monday.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former Dutch foreign minister who has led the Nato since 2004, told The Daily Telegraph that "nobody wants a new Cold War, neither the Russians nor Nato, nobody."

Yet the actions and rhetoric of President Vladimir Putin's regime have consciously revived echoes of Cold War confrontation. Last week, Russia "suspended" its adherence to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a crucial agreement which restricts the deployment of troops and tanks on European soil.

Earlier this year, Russia threatened to train nuclear missiles on Europe and Putin has questioned the value of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, which forms another cornerstone of Western security.

Much of Europe is heavily dependent on Russian supplies of natural gas and Putin has shown himself willing to use this leverage. Both Ukraine and Georgia have seen their energy supplies disrupted after offending Moscow.

But Scheffer said Russia was still a "partner" of Nato and that there was no alternative to dialogue. "I'm very much in favour of engaging and investing in this partnership. It's not always easy because, on missile defence, on Kosovo and on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, we have rather fundamental differences of opinion."

"It is important that we fight together the faceless common threat of terrorism. We both have to fight nuclear proliferation, we both have to fight failed and failing states. The threats and challenges that we are faced with in 2007 and beyond are not basically different in Moscow than they are in Washington, Paris, London or The Hague and Brussels."

MISSILE SHIELD
Pointman says US and Poland unfazed

Poland and the United States remain undeterred by Russian opposition to Washington's plans to build a missile defence system in eastern Europe, the chief Polish negotiator said yesterday.

Witold Waszczykowski said that Russia has shown a determination to block the planned missile shield, most recently by suspending its membership in a key European arms control treaty. "During the meeting of Kaczynski and President Bush, we discussed what else the Russians can do to spoil the whole concept, and the straightforward answer was, well, that we will continue," he said in a phone interview.

Further Information:

A New Cold War?