RAF MILDENHALL (England) Oct 13: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned on Saturday that Russia will hurt its position in Europe if it unilaterally breaks with a treaty limiting the deployment of conventional forces in Europe.

“My own view is that the Europeans are beginning to wonder what the Russians are all about,” he told reporters.

“And I think it would be frankly harmful to Russia’s interests in Europe to unilaterally suspend or withdraw from this treaty, in terms of the sense of security and reassurance in Europe of the predictability of the future.”

Gates spoke aboard his plane as he flew back to Washington at the end of two days of talks dominated by bitter disputes over missile defence and Cold War-era arms control treaties. He stopped at the Royal Air Force base Mildenhall to refuel.

Among the more pressing issues is the Russian threat to suspend its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty on December 12 unless all Nato member countries ratify a version of the treaty amended in 1999.

“I think if the Russians are serious about walking away from a number of agreements that were negotiated with virtually all of Europe I imagine that some of them would find that unsettling,” Mr Gates said.

Originally negotiated between Nato and the Warsaw Pact countries in 1990, the treaty establishes national ceilings for troops and tanks enforced through a regime of notifications and inspections.

Nato countries have refused to ratify the treaty until Russia withdraws all its forces from Georgia and Moldova.

Mr Gates told reporters that he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made some suggestions to the Russians aimed at resolving the dispute during their talks in Moscow.

“Our hope is we can maybe narrow these differences and get it done in a timely enough way that they won’t feel it necessary to do that,” he said.—AFP