Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday that the Western alliance should take part in a summit on European security scheduled for next summer, involving Russia, the U.S. and the EU.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the EU presidency, proposed the meeting at last week”s Russia-EU summit in Nice.
The idea of a security summit, which Sarkozy said could “lay the foundations of what could possibly be a future pan-European security system,” was supported by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The French leader said the pact could be discussed at the summit of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.
Rogozin said: “The train led by presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy is departing from Brussels and heading for Vienna. NATO colleagues should hurry to catch that train.”
At last week”s summit, Sarkozy urged Russia and the U.S. to put on hold their missile defense plans. Russia staunchly opposes U.S. plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic, and has threatened to deploy tactical Iskander missiles in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad near Poland as a countermeasure.
Dialogue between Russia and NATO was frozen after a five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August.
