Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia could sever all ties with NATO if necessary, Russian news agencies reported Monday.
"Cooperation is in the interests of NATO, not Russia," Medvedev said in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi during a meeting on Monday with Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's envoy to the alliance.
If NATO is not willing to cooperate with Moscow, "we will take any decision, up to terminating relations entirely," he was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.
The Russian president said his country "has been trying to develop relations with the alliance for a rather long time."
"Yet we would like to have a full-scale partnership rather than live a life of illusion amid the creation of new (military) bases around us and the involvement of new countries in NATO," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Rogozin, for his part, said NATO has taken up a policy of double standards and "has deviated from the spirit of partnership."
Moscow recalled Rogozin from Brussels "for consultations" after NATO froze contacts through the Russia-NATO Council in an emergency NATO foreign ministers' meeting last week.
The Russian Defense Ministry later said it was suspending all cooperation with the military alliance.
Georgia launched attacks against South Ossetia in an attempt to regain control of the breakaway region bordering Russia. Moscow responded by sending in troops, which drove Georgian forces out of the region and took over parts of Georgian territory.
Russia declared a halt to its military offensive in Georgia on Aug. 12 and has now withdrawn most of its troops from there, but peacekeeping checkpoints are still in place "to deter further bloodshed".
Both houses of Russia's parliament on Monday approved appeals to the president to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia.
Medvedev has not yet reacted to the requests, which are likely to further strain Russia's ties with the West.
(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2008)
