BRUSSELS, December 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, demanded on Wednesday that NATO confirm or deny WikiLeaks reports showing that the alliance treats Russia as an aggressor.
The latest batch of U.S. embassy cables released by Wikileaks shows NATO drew up plans in January to defend the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania against any possible attack by Russia.
A NATO spokesman said Tuesday that NATO and Russia are not enemies but that the alliance is always ready to defend its members, including the Baltic states.
Rogozin said he expects NATO “to publicly give up military plans against Russia.”
The founder of the controversial whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, was arrested in London on Tuesday. He was wanted by Sweden on sex assault charges, which some think are politically motivated.
An arrest warrant for Assange was issued by Swedish prosecutors last week just days after his website published the first batch of over 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables.
World leaders and diplomats have downplayed the impact of the information leak on international relations but many have questioned the benefit of the project, alleging that some of the leaks could “threaten lives.”
Source: RIA Novosti 09/12/2010
