Russia is proposing a broad new security alliance, possibly including India and China, that would deal with problems such as terrorism and crime from Vladivostok, on Russia's eastern border, to Vancouver, the International Herald Tribune reported Sunday.

The proposal was floated in Brussels on Monday by Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO. PARIS -- Russia is proposing a broad new security alliance, possibly including India and China, that would deal with problems such as terrorism and crime from Vladivostok, on Russia's eastern border, to Vancouver, the International Herald Tribune reported Sunday.

The proposal was floated in Brussels on Monday by Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai told Canwest News Service Monday the idea of a new trans-Atlantic alliance that includes Russia was mentioned only briefly during a meeting with NATO ambassadors.

Rogozin said he would provide a full briefing on the new Euro-Atlantic alliance later this year, according to Appathurai.

The proposal was portrayed in the newspaper report as an attempt by the Kremlin to usurp other alliances dominated by the U.S. and Europe.

"Even though Europe has changed 'beyond recognition' since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, it has 'failed to create a reliable, comprehensive and integrated security architecture' from Vancouver in Canada to Vladivostok, Russia's most eastern border," the newspaper reported, quoting from a text of the proposal.

Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's NATO ambassador, said he hopes the proposal will spark a debate.

"We do not expect immediate reaction on the part of our Western partners, or booing or, on the contrary, applause," Rogozin said in an e-mail to the International Herald Tribune.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay's office said they had not seen the proposal and could not comment.