NATO chief wants helicopters, not new defense treaty, from Kremlin

MOSCOW: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday he saw no need for a new security treaty proposed by Russia, rebuffing the Kremlin's call for new defense arrangements in Europe.

After talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders, Rasmussen urged greater cooperation between NATO and Russia in Afghanistan, but showed no enthusiasm for Moscow's treaty proposal.

"I don't see a need for new treaties or new legally binding documents because we do have a framework already," he said at a news briefing in Moscow.