VIENNA: A senior Russian official is urging the international community to support Moscow’s call for a new European-Atlantic security treaty.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko is promoting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal for a new security system involving 56 nations in a region stretching from Vancouver in Canada to Vladivostok, Russia.

Russia has been advocating such a treaty since June.

Moscow sees it as an alternative to two developments it opposes: NATO’s eastward push to include former Soviet republics on Russia’s doorstep, and “unilateral actions” by the United States such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Grushko spoke Wednesday at a regular meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.