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Russian Defense Minister Criticizes NATO Expansion, Warns of Moscow Taking “Self-Defense” Actions By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov yesterday criticized the recent expansion of NATO to include three former Soviet states — a move Russia has warned could lead to a re-evaluation of its nuclear weapons doctrine (see GSN, March 26). Late last month, NATO formally admitted seven new members including the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The admission of those nations means that, for the first time, NATO’s reach extends to the Russian border. During a speech last night in Washington hosted by the Center for Defense Information, Ivanov warned that if the alliance establishes a “military infrastructure” in the region, Russia would respond with actions that “conform to the principles of self-defense.” “We entertain no illusions why the Baltic countries have been admitted to NATO and why NATO planes are already being deployed there,” Ivanov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying, referring to four F-16 fighters recently deployed in Lithuania. “This has nothing to do with the fight against terrorism,” he said. In a commentary in today’s New York Times, Ivanov wrote that NATO’s expansion into the Baltics gives the alliance the ability to “control and monitor Russian territory.” “We cannot turn a blind eye as NATO’s air and military bases get much closer to cities and defense complexes in European Russia,” he wrote. In a move that could lead to further concern in Moscow, the Joint Air Monitoring System of the three Baltic states was formally incorporated into the NATO Integrated Air Defense System today, RIA Novosti reported, citing a Latvian air force spokesman. Ivanov also wrote today that Russia’s “fears” were compounded by the fact that the three Baltic states, as well as Slovenia, are not signatories to the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty. A modified version of the treaty reached after the end of the Warsaw Pact, but not yet ratified, governs the number of conventional forces each member may possess and that each member may allow within its borders, according to a U.S. State Department fact sheet. According to Ivanov, the fact that the Baltic states are not CFE Treaty members creates a “‘gray zone’ in Europe’s conventional arms control system that could allow the alliance to deploy any amount of heavy weaponry within them.” Noting that Russia had reduced its military forces in the eastern part of the country, Ivanov criticized in his Times article today both NATO and the governments of the new members for failing to address Moscow’s concerns. He said last night that while there is still a “window of opportunity” to improve Russian-NATO relations, it was up to the United States and the alliance to do so, adding that any improved relations had to be based on mutual concessions. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to reduce Russia’s concerns over the NATO expansion. “We are not putting more troops in to surround Russia. We’re moving troops out of Europe even more than we’ve moved over the last 10 or 12 years. So, if they look at what we’re doing they know, as an analytic manner, that this is not something they really should be worrying about,” Powell said April 2. The issue of the NATO expansion was also one of several discussed yesterday during a meeting between Powell and Ivanov held in Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. “It was a very broad and free-flowing exchange,” he said. Nuclear, Terrorism ConcernsIn his remarks last night, Ivanov also addressed several nuclear weapons- and terrorism-related issues. He praised the roles of strategic deterrence and the doctrine of mutually assured destruction in helping to foster the environment for the current state of U.S.-Russian relations (see GSN, April 1). “Let us guard this heritage,” Ivanov said. He also said, though, that Russia is concerned with U.S. plans to research new “bunker-busting” nuclear weapons, adding that it is “quite enough” to attack terrorists using conventional weapons. The use of such miniature nuclear weapons could be an example of “letting the genie out of the bottle” and could ultimately lower the nuclear threshold, he said (see GSN, Jan. 29). Ivanov also addressed the issue of securing Russian nuclear materials from terrorists seeking to develop nuclear or radiological weapons. He said that he was confident that there had been no leakage of Russian weapon-grade materials and that not even “1 gram” had been left unaccounted for (see GSN, March 23). Ivanov suggested that terrorists would not need to acquire Russian nuclear materials to be able to conduct large-scale attacks, or even attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. He noted that Chechen militants had obtained information on the development of “poisons” through the Internet (see GSN, March 31). In addition, Ivanov said last night that the fact that Russia accepts U.S. and international aid to help dispose of nuclear reactors removed from decommissioned Russian nuclear submarines does not indicate security problems. Russia “bears the burden of the Cold War” and therefore has a large number of submarines and reactors to dispose of, he said (see related GSN story, today).
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