British, U.S. defense chiefs hold talks

[Reuter / Charles Aldinger]

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - British Defense Secretary Michael
Portillo said Monday that a proposed new charter between Russia
and NATO should not become a political football for debate and
approval by Western parliaments.
He told reporters at a breakfast before holding talks with
Defense Secretary William Cohen that the charter should be
''certainly something on paper and certainly something by which
we (NATO) would feel bound, but not something which we would
have taken to our parliaments.''
``I think it would be better as a government-to-government
understanding without all the complexities of having to obtain
ratification in each of the countries,'' Portillo added at the
British Embassy before the Pentagon talks with Cohen.
The United States has also said the charter should be a
binding document and not a treaty, but Russian officials have
warned that it might have to be submitted to the Duma, the lower
house of parliament, for formal approval.
Portillo, who hosted Cohen at a dinner Sunday night, said he
was pleased that Russia had now accepted the fact that NATO will
take in new members from Eastern Europe and was engaged in
discussions with the alliance on a charter to ease its concerns
about threats to its security.
``The evidence is that over the last two weeks the Russians
have clearly accepted that new members are going to join the
alliance and they are now seriously engaged in the charter
negotiations and I welcome that very much indeed,'' he said.
Portillo cautioned that a joint NATO-Russian military
brigade proposed recently by Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright was in the very early stages of discussion and should
not be a source of embarrassment to Russia because of financial
difficulties there.
``The brigade is a kind of a brand name, I think, at this
stage for an idea,'' he said. ``But whether the brigade turns
out to be a (smaller) battalion, or a headquarters, or a
planning group or whatever, I think that's all very much yet to
be decided,'' he told reporters.
``It certainly shouldn't be something which the Russians
find tiresome, overly demanding or embarrassing.''