Questioned by his NATO counterparts about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's idea, Moscow's envoy Dmitry Rogozin said that he would provide fuller answers on September 24.

One diplomat said, on condition of anonymity, that the ambassadors asked him "what the proposal signifies in concrete terms."

Would it "replace existing organisations like NATO and the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which would pose a problem, or complement them," the diplomat said.

"They asked for an explanation about what is missing" with current security arrangements in Europe and North America, he said.

A Russian diplomat confirmed that Rogozin had been questioned at length, after a 20-minute outline of Medvedev's foreign policy plans, and that he would provide more details on September 24.

Diplomats said that there were no clashes during the meeting.

In a speech in Berlin early last month, Medvedev called for a European summit to start to draw up such a pact.

He raised the idea again at an EU-Russia summit in Siberia, underlining that the OSCE and NATO had been unable to resolve Europe's security problems.

EU leaders have expressed interest in the idea but want Russia to explain it in more detail.

Moscow has been angered in recent years by the prospect of NATO moving into regions it regards as its traditional sphere of influence and notably opposes extending membership to Georgia or Ukraine as a threat to Russian security.

Russian analysts have said that Moscow would have difficulty convening a summit with western European allies with the stated goal of replacing NATO.

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