NATO expansion does not enhance security in Europe - Lavrov
28/03/2008 16:28 MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The expansion of NATO does nothing to strengthen security in Europe, the Russian foreign minister said on Friday.
Russia has been unnerved by NATO's ongoing enlargement, in particular the bids to join the military alliance by two former neighboring Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine.
"In the modern world, real threats should be dealt with not by mechanical enlargement but by uniting forces," said Sergei Lavrov, adding that, "NATO's expansion in its current form reflects the logic of preserving and strengthening dividing lines in Europe."
NATO members intend to discuss Georgia and Ukraine's bids for membership in the alliance at its summit in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2-4. Outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin is also set to attend the summit.
After the summit, Putin will meet with U.S. President George Bush in Sochi, Russia's resort city on the Black Sea, for more discussions on NATO's expansion and U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
NATO expansion and the U.S. missile shield plans have triggered confrontational rhetoric from Russia and prompted the country to temporarily withdraw from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty, a crucial arms control arrangement, in mid-December 2007.
Speaking last month at his final annual news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia may have to retarget some of its rockets at both the possible U.S. missile defenses in Central Europe and Ukraine, in the event of Kiev joining NATO.
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