TEHRAN (Basirat)- NATO is split on the issue of signing a memorandum with Russia on preventing air and naval incidents in the Baltic Sea, a source close to NATO told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

NATO is split on the issue of signing a memorandum with Russia on preventing air and naval incidents in the Baltic Sea, a source close to NATO told RIA Novosti Wednesday.On Tuesday, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev
said that Russia was continuing work within the framework of the
Russia-NATO Council to coordinate measures aimed at preventing air and
sea confrontations between the sides.
"Given the current geopolitical situation, not everyone in NATO
considers signing a memorandum on the prevention of military incidents
in the air and at sea sensible," the source said.As part of confidence building measures, Russia previously proposed
to use transponders when conducting military flights over the Baltic
Sea after the initiative was floated by Finland. The proposal has been
turned down by NATO.
Flight transponders are used in aviation to identify planes from the ground.
Russia has also proposed to hold consultations with the alliance on
the military-political situation in Europe, including on the issue of
transponders and incidents over the Baltic, an offer which has also been
rejected by NATO.
However, in late October, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said
that NATO is ready to conduct a Russia-NATO Council meeting to discuss
the mechanisms of military risk reduction and to continue dialogue with
Moscow in this area.