http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/11/12/usbases.shtml
NATO Troops / Photo: AP
U.S. Bases Pose Threat to Russia — Chief of Post-Soviet Security Pact
Created: 12.11.2005 11:25 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:19 MSK
MosNews
The Russian head of a military pact including several ex-Soviet nations said Friday that the U.S. and NATO bases around Russia were a potential threat to the country, but Moscow has no immediate plans to build up its military presence in Central Asia.
While not an immediate danger, those facilities near Russian borders were potentially destabilizing, said Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary general of the six-nation Collective Security Treaty. The pact links Russia with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Associated Press reported.
“Military bases around Russia may become a threat if attempts are made to exert political and military pressure on our state,” Bordyuzha said at a round-table discussion. However, he added, Moscow had no immediate intention to beef up its military presence in Central Asia.
Russia has expressed concern about NATO’s expansion eastward to embrace ex-Soviet allies and former Soviet Baltic nations, but it also has signed an agreement with NATO to expand cooperation on counterterrorism, nonproliferation and peacekeeping....