Russia calls on US to stop NATO eastward expansion in draft security treaty

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry published a draft agreement on guarantees of security between Russia and the United States Friday. The document includes eight articles and covers the main aspects of mutual guarantees of security between Moscow and Washington. The document reflects the calls, repeatedly voiced by Moscow in the past, and offers a solution to the accumulated problems and threats, including those that emerged after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. First and foremost, the document outlines the principles of indivisible and equal security, and non-threatening of each other’s security. To this extent, the document includes the following points: rejection of actions and events that affect the other side’s security, non-participation in such events and refraining from supporting them. Besides, the draft agreement mentions the rejection of security measures - be it individual or within and international organization, military alliance or coalition - that could undermine the base security interests of the other side. NATO eastward expansion "The United States of America shall take measures to prevent further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and deny accession to the Alliance to the former USSR republics," the treaty says. Besides, the Russian draft stipulates US’ obligation not to establish military bases in former Soviet states that are not NATO members, not to use their infrastructure to carry out any military activity, and not to develop bilateral military cooperation with them. According to the document, the sides will refrain from using other states’ territories in order to prepare or carry out an armed attack against each other or other actions that affect the other side’s base security interests. Deployment of weapons and forces Moscow offers Washington to refrain from deploying its armed forces and weapons, including within international organizations, military alliances and coalitions, in regions, where such deployment could be viewed as a threat to the other side’s security, except deployment on one’s national territory. The Parties shall refrain from flying heavy bombers equipped for nuclear or non-nuclear armaments or deploying surface warships of any type, including in the framework of international organizations, military alliances or coalitions, in the areas outside national airspace and national territorial waters respectively, from where they can attack targets in the territory of the other Party," the document reads. Russia also proposes maintaining dialogue and cooperating on improvement of mechanisms of prevention of incidents in international water and air space, including negotiation of the maximum approach distance between military ships and planes. A separate article is dedicated to intermediate-and shorter-range missiles: "the Parties vow not to deploy ground-launched intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles outside their national territories, as well as in the areas of their national territories, from which such weapons can attack targets in the national territory of the other Party." Nuclear weapons The treaty also touches upon matters of nuclear weapons. "The Parties shall refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories and return such weapons already deployed outside their national territories at the time of the entry into force of the Treaty to their national territories. The Parties shall eliminate all existing infrastructure for deployment of nuclear weapons outside their national territories," the draft treaty says. Besides, the document also mentions the training of non-nuclear powers’ military staff on using nuclear weapons. "The Parties shall not train military and civilian personnel from non-nuclear countries to use nuclear weapons. The Parties shall not conduct exercises or training for general-purpose forces, that include scenarios involving the use of nuclear weapons," the document reads. Read more