Russia says no reason for Putin to take part in NATO summit

A top Russian diplomat said thatPresident Vladimir Putin will not take part in the upcoming NATOsummit in Turkish city of Istanbul on Monday, Interfax news agencyreported on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, there were no prerequisites for our president'sparticipation," Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov said inan interview with the Vremya Novostei newspaper, to be publishedon Thursday, according to Interfax.

He named the beginning of the ratification procedure for theAgreement on the Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Forcesin Europe (CFE) by the NATO countries as such a prerequisite."However, this has not happened, and it is obvious that it willnot happen before the summit," Chizhov said, adding that "the CFEremains the corner stone for European security."

He said that a session of the Russia-NATO Council at the levelof foreign ministers will take place in Istanbul on June 28.Chizhov ruled out any "revolution" at the upcoming session."We are expecting a joint analysis of the experience theCouncil has accumulated over the two years of its existence and todefine the direction of its further activity," Chizhov said.Russia has been particularly concerned about the reluctance offour new NATO members -- three Baltic states and Slovenia-- toratify an amended version of the CFE, which limits the deploymentof troops and weapons in Eastern Europe.

Source: Xinhua