NATO seeks explanation on Putin arms control freeze

OSLO (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday the alliance sought explanation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to suspend Russia's obligations under a key European arms control treaty.

"I expect Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov to explain the words of his President," de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference ahead of a scheduled meeting between NATO foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart in Oslo on Thursday.

Countering Putin's arguments in a speech in Moscow that NATO states were ignoring the so-called Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), de Hoop Scheffer said NATO members wanted to ratify an adapted version of it when Russia had fulfilled its commitments. NATO has in the past called on Russia to withdraw its remaining troops from Georgia and Moldova.