Brussels - NATO is willing to discuss how to respond to new security threats with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Russia and the United States are both members, the trans-Atlantic alliance said Wednesday. However, Russia should refrain from issuing "confrontational statements" and stop being a source of concern for NATO's allies and its partners, for instance by threatening to deploy short range missiles in Kaliningrad, NATO foreign ministers said in a joint statement issued at a meeting in Brussels.
"Allies are open to dialogue within the OSCE on security perceptions and how to respond to new threats, and seek the widest possible cooperation among participating states to promote a common Euro-Atlantic space of security and stability," ministers said.
At the same time, recent Russian actions and statements, including its "disproportionate" use of force during the August conflict with Georgia, have "seriously diminished our confidence in Moscow's continuing commitment to the founding values and principles of NATO-Russia relations."
The idea of holding a high-level meeting of the 56-member OSCE, some time next year, was first floated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at last month's EU-Russia summit in Nice in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Medvedev has long been calling for a "new security architecture" in Europe that would set legal limits on the use of force across the continent.
Such an international deal - involving Europe, Canada and the United States - would replace the Helsinki Final Accords of 1975, which laid the basis for peaceful relations between the Soviet Union and the West.
Some analysts suggest Medvedev's main concern is to undermine NATO's sphere of influence in post-Cold War Europe.
On Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers moved to mend a rift with Moscow by inviting Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to explore the possibility of resuming meetings of the NATO-Russia Council, a forum for direct dialogue which was suspended in the aftermath of the Georgia conflict.
And Russia on Wednesday welcomed NATO's willingness to achieve a rapprochement with Moscow.
"This is an indication that there is a growing understanding for Russia's role and for its international authority," said the speaker of the Russian Parliament, or Duma, Viktor Zavarzin, who also chairs the Defence Committee.
Zavarzin also welcomed NATO's decision not to grant immediate Membership Action Plans to Georgia and Ukraine, saying that by sticking to its strict membership criteria, the alliance showed it had altered its assessment of the war.
Proponents of the OSCE summit, which could be held in the summer of 2009, say such a meeting could help clear up misunderstandings between Russia and the West.
