Ukraine crisis reveals shortcomings in European confidence building measures - Russian Defense Ministry official
SINGAPORE. May 30 (Interfax-AVN) - European experience in creating a confidence building mechanism on the interstate level is not a panacea, and the events in Ukraine have revealed significant shortcomings in this form of cooperation, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.
"We lack confidence. Some colleagues say it is reasonable to use the European experience for these purposes. In our view, the specifics of the situation in the Asia Pacific region (APR) prevent us from mechanically copying the systems of confidence building measures existing in Europe. And besides, not all of them have proven to be viable and impartial in light of the Ukraine crisis," Antonov said at the 14th Shangri La Dialogue international conference in Asia on Saturday.
Transparency in military activities should be seen among the key steps to improve confidence, which Russia is vividly demonstrating, Antonov said.
"So what can be done to improve confidence? It appears that it can and should be started with voluntary transparency of military activities. Providing information on planned and ongoing military exercises could be very helpful. The Russian Defense Ministry has taken this very approach," he said.
"Bilateral agreements on preventing dangerous military activities near each other's borders" make a significant contribution to improving confidence, Antonov said. "We already have such agreements with the U.S., Canada, China, and South Korea. We also expect to conclude analogous agreements with Japan and the DPRK," he said.