STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Have you visited eBayTM lately? The Worlds Marketplace where you can buy and sell practically anything keeps getting better. From consumer electronics to movies, find it all on eBay. What are you waiting for? Try eBay today. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Putin urges end to NATO, new European security body ROME, July 16 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that NATO should be disbanded and replaced by a pan-European security body that included Russia. In a wide-ranging interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Putin said NATO expansion eastward towards Russia merely prolonged Cold War divisions of the continent. "The problem should be simple. In the West, everyone says 'We don't want new divisions in Europe, we don't want new Berlin walls'. Good. We completely agree," Putin told the Milan daily. "But when Nato enlarges, division doesn't disappear, it simply moves towards our borders," he said. "The divisions will continue until there is a single security area in Europe." He complained that NATO had used force to achieve political goals in Europe, and taken little notice of the U.N. Security Council, further undermining trust. "Nato could be disbanded as was the Warsaw Pact, but that is not even taken into consideration," he added. Putin said Russia had been refused a role in decision-making processes of the Atlantic alliance, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe had failed to become a viable alternative security structure. Instead, it was used to criticse Russia over its troubled Caucasus region and Central Asia. Shortly after taking office, Putin signalled Russia could eventually join NATO, and during his debut summit with U.S. President George W. Bush last month he again returned to the theme, revealing the Soviets had put out feelers on the issue in the mid-1950s. They were firmly rebuffed. Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, said later it was "premature to even suggest" that Russia could be invited to joint the alliance. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
