(RTTNews) - Russia has proposed a new treaty on European security that ensures foreign military assistance to a country under attack.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said Monday he had handed over a draft treaty to the alliance's Secretary- General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Rasmussen said NATO would reply to the draft proposal.

Copies of the draft have also been sent to heads of state and chief executives of NATO, the EU, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), open for signing.

The treaty is a follow-up to a major foreign policy proposal initiated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last year.
The Kremlin says the proposed treaty is aimed at replacing outdated institutions such as NATO and OSCE.

The draft document says, "In exercising its right of self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, it shall be entitled to render the attacked party, subject to its consent, the necessary assistance, including the military one, until the UN Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security."

Analysts say the Kremlin proposal is unrealistic and mainly aimed at boosting Moscow's role in international affairs by undermining NATO and the OSCE.

by RTT Staff Writer

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