Medvedev says does not seek end of NATO

UK: President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday his idea of a new security pact for Europe did not aim to dissolve NATO, but urged the Western alliance to avoid steps which could alarm Russia.

Medvedev told students of the London School of Economics that by the time he took office last May, the European security situation was difficult.

"Because we heard each other badly the situation came close to a Cold War," he said. "That was too bad."

Russia says NATO's plans to grant membership to ex-Soviet states like Georgia and Ukraine are a security threat because they could lead to its encirclement by a belt of unfriendly states including ex-Soviet satellites like Poland.

Medvedev has come out with a plan to replace the existing security arrangements in Europe, formed in the days of the Cold War, with a new pact he says would ensure equal security for every state and respect for all national interests. "Russia is not the Soviet Union or a post-Soviet state," he said. "For 17 years we have developed as a market economy.

"We have our national interests, but our choice is not different from other European states, that is why we want to count on equal partnership."

"The creation of a Pan-European pact should not lead to replacing old organisations with new ones," Medvedev added. "The existing organisations should remain and take part in creating a new pact."

Russia and NATO suspended ties after Moscow's brief war in Georgia. But earlier this year the two agreed to resume full-scale relations. LONDON, Friday, Reuters