PARIS, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's European partners have shown interest in the key points of the country's new European security pact draft, the Russian envoy to the European Union said Tuesday.
Vladimir Chizhov spoke at the 57th plenary session of the European Security and Defense Assembly in Paris on Tuesday, presenting the key points of the draft to assembly participants.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed drawing up a new European security pact in June 2008, and Russia published a draft of the treaty on Sunday, sending copies to heads of state and international organizations, including NATO.
"The document has been handed to heads of state and government of OSCE member countries. It has also been presented to the Swedish Presidency of the EU in Stockholm," Chizhov said.
He said Russia's partners have already reacted to the country's proposals.
"The reaction was [that they were] rather interested. Today's discussion confirmed it. They refrained from comments on specific proposals yet as they need time to study them," he said.
The draft security pact says, in particular, that "every Party shall be entitled to consider an armed attack against any other Party an armed attack against itself."
"In exercising its right of self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, it shall be entitled to render the attacked Party, subject to its consent, the necessary assistance, including military," it says.
