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RUSSIA HAS GOOD CHANCE TO JOIN COMMON SECURITY STRUCTURE

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MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti's Dmitry Panovkin) - Working within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council opens up opportunities for the Russian military to join the common structure of security, Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Military Forecasting Center, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to the official, the session of the council in Vilnius proved that "Washington and Moscow are working much in practice as well as making formal preparations for possible joint actions".

Last year Russia signed an agreement in Istanbul on partaking in operations to combat mass destruction weapons in the Mediterranean Sea, Tsyganok said.

"These agreements provide for the arrangement of the maneuvers. Besides, we plan to increase the number of exercises in the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic straits," the military expert remarked.

The interlocutor believes that "these agreements will allow the Russia military to assess the situation without using ideological stamps, which still prevail in our political and military elites".

At the same time, Tsyganok stressed there are "a lot of unsolved problems in Russia concerning military cooperation". Among these he noted NATO countries' shift to new standards of military equipment. "There is discrepancy between the gauges of our arms. This is an essential problem in the aspect of joint operations," the expert said.

"Russia and NATO should avoid ideology in the relations of partnership. They should take a pragmatic approach to cooperation," he believes.

Touching upon the issue of Ukraine's joining NATO, the official said that this is absurd.

"First of all, it should be mentioned that NATO is currently incapable of assimilating the small countries admitted last year. Secondly, defense enterprises in eastern regions of the country account for 40% of Ukraine's national income. Therefore, Ukraine's joining the alliance may prompt a new revolution," Anatoly Tsyganok was quoted as saying.

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