Russian Defence Minister Says Moscow Likely to Seek Renegotiation of Istanbul Agreements

Russia is likely to denounce the Istanbul agreements, particularly the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty and seek renegotiation of the deadlines for its military withdrawal from Georgia and Moldova, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov was quoted as saying by The Financial Times and The New York Times on Sunday and Monday at the 40th NATO annual conference on security and defence issues in Munchen. According to Ivanov, "today, the so-called Istanbul political commitments are alleged to be a 'stumbling block' for the ratification despite the fact that these commitments have nothing to do with the Treaty..." "At least, one thing is clear for us: the CFE regime in its actual form can not go on uphold stability and balance of interests of the signatory States amid actual military and political developments in Europe. Admission to the NATO of seven new members, with four of them staying out of the Treaty, finally makes the Treaty System of limitations imperfect, under-efficient, and cut off from the realities," the reports said. In the context, the Russian defence chief noted that relationship with close neighbours is one of basic priorities of Russia's foreign policy. "Relationship with the CIS members cannot be treated as a typical feature of Russian-style 'neo-imperialism', the way some people try to do. These relations are compulsory for our security," Ivanov underlined. According to western reports, Senator John McCain, a Republican, was one of the few top U.S. officials at the conference to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of conspiracy against Russian democracy, as well as of start of a campaign of intimidation and restoration of control on states which withdrew from Soviet domination.