Russia to NATO: No, Really, After You. I Insist.

Honestly, is there any other way to interpret this?

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko, as reported by the AP:

Moscow wants NATO to listen to its concerns and hold serious discussions on the Kremlin’s proposal for an overarching new European security treaty.

Reacting to Rasmussen’s remarks, Russia noted “the readiness he declared for stepping up Russia-NATO relations,” Nesterenko said in a statement. But he suggested the alliance must do more to earn Russia’s trust and remove its concerns.

“We are realists…further prospects for cooperation will depend first of all on the general backdrop of relations with the alliance, the restoration of trust, readiness to take into account Russia’s concerns.”

It will also hinge on “the vector of NATO’s further evolution and the goals and tasks the organization sets for itself”

I understand caution – but I don’t think that’s the real issue here. I’m simply not convinced that what is being discussed here will ever happen and that each side is merely going through the necessary motions so as to avoid being the roadblock.