NATO Chief visits Russia

Sergei Mironov is satisfied with the meetings and had this to say: “We touched upon a series of issues during our talks, including global security and the Afghanistan situation. I noted a draft Treaty on European Security proposed by the Russian President and I said that we don’t find it necessary to annul what has been worked out by the OSCE for the Helsinki agreement to annulment. This is why Dmitry Medvedev calls his proposals “Helsinki plus”, I also mentioned the situation around the former Yugoslavia in 1999 and South Ossetia in 2008, to show that the existing OSCE security system has not protected people against war and aggression. Mr. Rasmussen said that these were military actions in the field and the Helsinki treaty had nothing to do with it. I said that the people of former Yugoslavia and Ossetia did not care whether the actions in the field were just defects of the existing security systems as they were being bombed. This is another proof that the OSCE security regime signed in 1975 does not work in the modern world. So we find it reasonable to consider a new amendment to the Helsinki treaty worked out by President Dmitry Medvedev. This is the outcome of my meeting with NATO Secretary the General,” concluded Sergei Mironov.