Russia rebuffs idea of arms talks

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday rejected a NATO offer to hold a special conference on a key European arms pact and instead proposed working on a new agreement, local news agencies quoted a top defence ministry official as saying.

President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday Russia would pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a landmark pact limiting post-Cold War military strength.

NATO said it was "very concerned" at the pullout and suggested Russia should join an extraordinary conference to discuss its concerns about the treaty.

"I don't see any big reason to have such a conference as the positions of NATO on CFE have not changed," Interfax news agency quoted Yevgeny Buzhinsky, the head of the Russian defence ministry's international agreement department, as saying.

Either all parties should agree to modify the current version of the CFE treaty to address Russian concerns or they should "show political will and move to consultations and negotiations to work out a new agreement" he said.

Ideally, Buzhinsky said a new pact should be worked out that better reflected the current situation.

NATO played down the significance of the Russian call to replace the CFE treaty, saying it was hard to keep up with Russia's different positions on the issue.

"Let's not overdramatise this. Let us have a sober discussion," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said. He added the 26-nation Western defence alliance would continue to abide by the treaty.