MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. NATO member states take obligations that rule the further expansion of the Alliance, including by accession of Ukraine or other states, says the draft agreement on guarantees of security, presented by Russian Foreign Ministry Friday.
"All member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization commit themselves to refrain from any further enlargement of NATO, including the accession of Ukraine as well as other States," the document says.
NATO member states also vow "not to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine as well as other States in the Eastern Europe, in the South Caucasus and in Central Asia."
"In order to exclude incidents the Russian Federation and the Parties that are member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization shall not conduct military exercises or other military activities above the brigade level in a zone of agreed width and configuration on each side of the border line of the Russian Federation and the states in a military alliance with it, as well as Parties that are member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization," the draft agreement says.
The parties also vow not to "deploy land-based intermediate-and short-range missiles in areas allowing them to reach the territory of the other Parties."
According to the agreement, Russia and all states that were NATO members by May 27, 1997, vow not to deploy their military forces and weaponry on the territory of any of the other European states beyond those deployed by May 27, 1997.
"With the consent of all the Parties such deployments can take place in exceptional cases to eliminate a threat to security of one or more Parties," the document reads.
Consultations mechanism
According to the draft agreement, "the Parties reaffirm that they do not consider each other as adversaries."
"The Parties shall maintain dialogue and interaction on improving mechanisms to prevent incidents on and over the high seas (primarily in the Baltics and the Black Sea region)," the treaty says.
Under the proposed agreement, the parties "shall not create conditions or situations that pose or could be perceived as a threat to the national security of other Parties."
"The Parties shall exercise restraint in military planning and conducting exercises to reduce risks of eventual dangerous situations in accordance with their obligations under international law, including those set out in intergovernmental agreements on the prevention of incidents at sea outside territorial waters and in the airspace above, as well as in intergovernmental agreements on the prevention of dangerous military activities," the document reads.
In order to address issues and settle problems, the treaty proposes to "use the mechanisms of urgent bilateral or multilateral consultations, including the NATO-Russia Council." Meanwhile, "the Parties shall regularly and voluntarily exchange assessments of contemporary threats and security challenges, inform each other about military exercises and maneuvers, and main provisions of their military doctrines."
"All existing mechanisms and tools for confidence-building measures shall be used in order to ensure transparency and predictability of military activities," the document reads. "Telephone hotlines shall be established to maintain emergency contacts between the Parties."
The document underscores that the treaty "shall not affect and shall not be interpreted as affecting the primary responsibility of the Security Council of the United Nations for maintaining international peace and security, nor the rights and obligations of the Parties under the Charter of the United Nations."
"This Agreement shall enter into force from the date of deposit of the instruments of ratification, expressing consent to be bound by it, with the Depositary by more than a half of the signatory States. With respect to a State that deposited its instrument of ratification at a later date, this Agreement shall enter into force from the date of its deposit," says the document, adding that any signatory may withdraw from it by notifying the depositary.