Lavrov demands an end to NATO's "bloc approach"

Europe and the United States should end their "bloc approach" to security based on NATO and instead sign up to Russian proposals for a new security system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday, DPA reported.

Russia has been calling for a new security treaty to outlaw "one state enhancing its security at another's expense" since June 2008, but some NATO states suspect that it is largely concerned with stopping any further NATO expansion.

The end of the Cold War gave the opportunity to make the 56-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes both Russia and the US, the main security organization in Europe, Lavrov told the Munich Security Conference.

"Unfortunately, this opportunity was missed, since the choice was made in favour of NATO's expansion policy, dividing Europe into zones but moving these lines deliberately to the East," Lavrov said in his first speech at the annual event.