Interfax's Interview

 Ahead of a regular session of the Russia-NATO Council at ambassador level in Brussels NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has answered questions from Interfax special reporter Ksenia Baigarova.

 Dear Secretary General, Russia has decided it will suspend the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty if parties to the treaty fail to come up with a proposal aimed at enforcing it. NATO has stated it regrets this, but will it develop any new proposals following Russia's decision?

 Let me summarize the situation as seen from Allied perspective. NATO has responded to the recent Russian statement through an official communique on 16 July. Allies did express disappointment and concern with the unilateral decision of Russia. They also reiterated their full commitment to the CFE regime and called upon all signatories to continue implementing fully all the obligations under the CFE Treaty and associated documents. At the same time we have invited Russia for a constructive and creative dialogue on this important issue. The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) framework – that has served us so well over the last five years – can also play a helpful role. On 25th July another meeting of NRC ambassadors at NATO HQ will provide a good opportunity in this respect.

 Could you please comment on recent statements by the Russian Defense Ministry that it is necessary to either develop a new agreement on conventional armed forces in Europe or modernize the adapted CFE Treaty? What is your attitude to these ideas?

 Again, we wish to hear our Russian partners’ views. I have had an extensive and very frank discussion on the CFE treaty with President Putin last month in Moscow. Also in June Allies did agree to a Russian request for the CFE Extraordinary Conference in Vienna. They participated in this conference with seriousness, flexibility and open-mindedness. Having listened to Russian concerns a set of Allied proposals was submitted. Allies are therefore ready to continue such dialogue among all States Party to the Treaty.
 We have been very transparent in presenting our views and arguments. You can even find them – in a readers’ friendly language, including Russian – on our website.
 But the CFE Treaty is such an important document and represents years of extensive negotiations and discussions that there is every reason to strive – on all sides – for preserving this landmark Treaty and bringing the Adapted CFE Treaty into force. Don’t forget also that the Adapted Treaty reflect not the realities of the bygone, bloc to bloc era, but those of the new cooperative security situation in Europe. 

 Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit meeting in the United States suggested using a radar under construction in south Russia in addition to the radar in Azerbaijan and also establishing centers for data exchanges in Moscow and Brussels. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has said it is possible to form a single global missile defense system involving neutral countries among others by 2020. How does NATO regard these initiatives? Can they become an alternative to the deployment of elements of the U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland?

 Not an easy question for me as the Secretary General of NATO. The reason is simple: many elements on which you seek my views are topics of bilateral discussion and interchange. This goes both for the US-Polish, US-Czech negotiations, as well as for the proposals made by President Putin in the United States. I consider Russia-US dialogue on the subject of missile defence particularly valuable and I hope that it will bring fruitful results.
 I cannot predict what will be the ultimate shape of the international missile defence architecture. I do know, however, that NATO considers Russia a partner in this endeavour. Our countries cannot remain indifferent to the growing threat of ballistic missile proliferation, to the dangers posed by rogue states developing WMD technologies. I remain an optimist that our debates with Russia – even if we do not agree on many elements today – result in a way forward, together, that will make the world we live in more secure.

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