Russia unveils European security treaty

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has unveiled a much-vaunted draft European security treaty which he says will finally end Cold War mentalities, despite a lukewarm reception in the West.

Medvedev's proposal will help the world "finally get rid of the legacy of the Cold War", the Kremlin said on Sunday in a statement accompanying the release of the seven-page draft document.

Medvedev began pushing the treaty in mid-2008 and intensified his efforts after the Russia-Georgia war, but most Western countries have been cool to the idea and some European officials have said it was lacking in detail.

Countries that sign the treaty "shall not undertake, participate in or support any actions or activities affecting significantly (the) security of any other Party or Parties to the Treaty", the document reads.

Nor shall they allow their territory to be used for an attack or "any other actions significantly affecting (the) security of any other Party".

The draft treaty does not, however, define what sort of activities could be considered as "significantly" affecting national security.

Russia has complained repeatedly in recent years about moves to bring US and NATO military forces into former communist countries, such as a now-scrapped Pentagon plan to build a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia also condemned NATO military exercises carried out earlier this year in Georgia, a sworn enemy of Russia since their August 2008 war.

Medvedev's draft treaty stresses the role of the United Nations, saying that the UN security council, on which Russia has a permanent seat, "bears the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and stability".

The draft document has been sent to leaders of all relevant countries as well as to multinational organisations such as the European Union and NATO, the Kremlin said.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the alliance would respond to Medvedev's ideas.

In September, Medvedev sought to build support for the treaty, which he said would prevent regional conflicts from spilling over into wars, in an address to the UN General Assembly.

He said during the Georgia-Russia conflict "we were very close to the situation in which a local armed conflict was capable of growing into a large scale war.

"In order for this not to be repeated, there's a need for precise, workable mechanisms of the realisation of the principle of the non-divisibility of security," said Medvedev.

"Principles of non-divisibility of security should become an integral part of the modern international law. We are all hoping that the Cold War is behind us, but the world has not become safer," he added.