Russia told Nato today that it had suspended military cooperation activities with alliance countries until further notice, the Western military pact said. "Russia has informed us through military channels that the minister of defence of the Russian Federation has taken a decision to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and Nato countries ... until further instructions," Nato spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. Nato members Norway, Estonia and Latvia have already said they had received notice of the step, which emerged after the alliance agreed this week that normal ties with Moscow were not possible until it had withdrawn troops from Georgia in line with efforts to end the South Ossetia conflict.
Russia told Nato today that it had suspended military cooperation activities with alliance countries until further notice, the Western military pact said.
"Russia has informed us through military channels that the minister of defence of the Russian Federation has taken a decision to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and Nato countries ... until further instructions," Nato spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.
Nato members Norway, Estonia and Latvia have already said they had received notice of the step, which emerged after the alliance agreed this week that normal ties with Moscow were not possible until it had withdrawn troops from Georgia in line with efforts to end the South Ossetia conflict.
Russia has told Nato that it is halting military co-operation over the continuing crisis in Georgia, an alliance spokeswoman has said. The move follows a statement by Nato that there would be no "business as usual" with Russia unless its troops pulled out of Georgia. However, the alliance had stopped short of freezing co-operation with Moscow. Meanwhile, Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have held mass rallies calling for independence.
Russia has told Nato that it is halting military co-operation over the continuing crisis in Georgia, an alliance spokeswoman has said.
The move follows a statement by Nato that there would be no "business as usual" with Russia unless its troops pulled out of Georgia.
However, the alliance had stopped short of freezing co-operation with Moscow.
Meanwhile, Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have held mass rallies calling for independence.
The president of Syria spent two days in Russia this week with a shopping list of sophisticated weapons he wanted to buy. The visit may prove a harbinger of things to come. If the conflict in Georgia ushers in a sustained period of renewed animosity between Russia and the West, Washington fears that a newly emboldened but estranged Moscow could use its influence, money, energy resources, United Nations Security Council veto and, yes, its arms industry to undermine American interests around the world. The list of ways a more hostile Russia could cause problems for the United States extends far beyond Syria and the mountains of Georgia. In addition to increased arms sales to other anti-American states like Iran and Venezuela, policymakers and specialists here envision a freeze in cooperation on counterterrorism and nuclear nonproliferation, manipulation of oil and natural gas supplies, pressure against U.S. military bases in Central Asia and the collapse of efforts to extend Cold War-era arms-control treaties. "It's Iran, it's the UN," said Angela Stent, who served as the top Russia officer at the U.S. government's National Intelligence Council until 2006 and now directs Russian studies at Georgetown University. "It's all the counterterrorism and counternarcotics programs, Syria, Venezuela, Hamas - there are any number of issues over which they can be less cooperative than they've been. And of course, energy."
If the conflict in Georgia ushers in a sustained period of renewed animosity between Russia and the West, Washington fears that a newly emboldened but estranged Moscow could use its influence, money, energy resources, United Nations Security Council veto and, yes, its arms industry to undermine American interests around the world.
The list of ways a more hostile Russia could cause problems for the United States extends far beyond Syria and the mountains of Georgia. In addition to increased arms sales to other anti-American states like Iran and Venezuela, policymakers and specialists here envision a freeze in cooperation on counterterrorism and nuclear nonproliferation, manipulation of oil and natural gas supplies, pressure against U.S. military bases in Central Asia and the collapse of efforts to extend Cold War-era arms-control treaties.
"It's Iran, it's the UN," said Angela Stent, who served as the top Russia officer at the U.S. government's National Intelligence Council until 2006 and now directs Russian studies at Georgetown University. "It's all the counterterrorism and counternarcotics programs, Syria, Venezuela, Hamas - there are any number of issues over which they can be less cooperative than they've been. And of course, energy."
