NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reassured Russia on Friday that bloc has no plan to open military bases on its doorsteps and the US tactical nuclear weapons deployed in the bloc are of "political" significance only.

NATO will not open new military bases near Russia, the NATO chief told a press conference during his visit to Moscow, where he discussed cooperation with Russia in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking in Central Asia with Russian leaders including President Vladimir Putin, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

As for the presence of US tactical nuclear weapons at NATO bases, de Hoop Scheffer said they have a purely political role and NATO will do nothing with the weapons.

De Hoop Scheffer's "no-base" assurance first came up a day earlier in an interview with the Interfax news agency.

"There is simply no NATO plan to shift a constant military presence toward Russian borders," de Hoop Scheffer told Interfax.

NATO and Russia are committed to exercising restraint in deploying conventional forces, the NATO chief said.

The limited presence of NATO and US forces in Central Asia, deployed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, should not be perceived as "threats to Russian interests," said de Hoop Scheffer.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2005)