Russia doesn't want NATO combat forces deployed in the eight former Warsaw Pact countries, a draft cooperation deal with NATO indicates.
The deal, which has not been made public, was handed over to NATO's secretary general by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last December, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a Russia business daily Russia wants NATO to impose a ban on the deployment of "substantive combatant forces" in the territories of the alliance's new member states admitted to NATO in 1999 and 2004.
"We want the level of predictability in military activity on the territories of the countries recently admitted to NATO to be higher than it is now," Ryabkov said.
A source from NATO headquarters, who confirmed the existence of the draft treaty, said a clear definition of the term "substantive combat forces" is the main obstacle to its conclusion.