The Belarus political situation and many other issues divided
the alliance and Russia in Friday's informal discussions, said NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
"There are many items and issues on which we think the same. But
there are also issues -- they also were discussed, where we
definitely do not see eye to eye," he told a press conference after
a NATO-Russia foreign ministerial meeting.
On Belarus, he said, the 26 NATO member countries and Russia
were "far apart."
Both De Hoop Scheffer and the US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice on Thursday condemned the arrest of the Belarusian opposition
leader Alexander Milinkevic.
De Hoop Scheffer said the detention was unacceptable and another
demonstration of "anti-democratic behavior on the part of the
regime (of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko)."
Rice described the arrest as "reprehensible" and asked the
Belarusian government to act in accordance with accepted
international principles when it came to the treatment of political
opposition.
In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
dialogue and engagement should be the approach to problems in
Belarus, not isolation.
"We said (to NATO) isolation was counter-productive," he
said.
De Hoop Scheffer and Lavrov held separate press conferences
after the NATO-Russia informal meeting, in sharp contrast to the
media treatment of the NATO-Ukraine meeting where the NATO
secretary general and Ukraine's foreign minister held a cordial
joint press conference.
Lavrov said the cornerstone of Russia-NATO cooperation was
compliance with standards of international law and recognition of
the primary role of the UN Security Council.
He hoped that the United States, which leads NATO, would
exercise caution in its plans to station troops in Romania and
Bulgaria, both NATO members.
"We hope the final decision will respect the alliance's legal
undertakings of restraint and also will take into account the
legitimate interests and concerns of the Russian Federation," he
told reporters.
Lavrov said Washington and Romania had assured Russia they would
not deploy "substantial military forces" in new NATO member
states.
He said Russia had yet to seek answers from NATO regarding what
"substantial forces" means.
On NATO's initiative to forge closer partnerships with
Asia-Pacific countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and
South Korea, Lavrov demanded transparency from NATO so that Russia
knows exactly what is going on and does not have security
fears.
The two sides, however, did agree on cooperating to jointly
fight narcotics in Afghanistan.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)
