Speaking at a US Congress session in Washington on Wednesday, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference warned against making unfriendly steps toward Russia - a country, which Wolfgang Ischinger said, could add significantly to maintaining security and stability in Europe in the 21st century.
Aside from offering an olive branch to Russia, Ischinger, who is also former German ambassador to the US and the UK, urged on Wednesday the conclusion of what he called "a big security deal" between Russia, the US and the EU. If clinched, the agreement could, among other things, see Washington scrapping its plans to deploy its tactical weapons in Europe, Ischinger explained. He also called for Moscow, Washington and Brussels to join efforts to build up comprehensive European security architecture - an issue, that Ischinger said, especially came to the fore in the wake of Georgia's aggression against its breakaway province of South Ossetia in 2008. At the time, an array of major international security organizations demonstrated their unwillingness to contribute to integral, free and united Europe, Ischinger admitted. He praised President Dmitry Medvedev's push for hammering out a new Euro-Atlantic security treaty, which was initiated by the Russian leader in Berlin in 2008.
Echoing Ischinger in the US Congress on Wednesday was prominent US political scientist Thomas Graham, who specifically urged the annual summit meetings between the US and Russian Presidents as well as the Russia-US-EU ministerial gatherings. In addition, Graham, who was also former US President George Bush Jr.'s adviser on Russia, pointed to the necessity of mending fences between Washington, Brussels and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, which currently comprises a number of ex-Soviet republics. Separately, Graham dwelt on Ukraine's and Georgia's accession to NATO - an issue that the US diplomat significantly said should be put on the back burner for a while. In a show of warmer ties between Moscow and Washington, Graham underscored the importance of involving Russia in a crucial process of rethinking European security mechanisms. It is high time for the US and the EU to start consulting Russia when it comes to the discussion of most pressing international issues, Graham noted, acknowledging his country's ever-fading global clout following the Cold War.
Now that "the reset" of relations between Russia and the US is under way, analysts say that more efforts are needed to speed up the process. Striking a successor to the lapsed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is almost certain to add to the purpose, pundits point out, calling for further fence-mending between Russia, the US and the EU. One can only hope that the three will continue to join efforts so as to contribute to a peaceful and prosperous Europe, commentators conclude.
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