For Russia, this would mean a significant improvement on what it has been offered since the end of the Cold War. Though invitations by the West to join organizations such as the NATO-Russia Council or the G-8 may have been symbolically important and thus politically valuable, these venues provide only forums for discussion; they do not produce binding agreements.
最重要的是，新条约能让俄罗斯和西方都确保在有约束力的平衡协议中的利益。对俄罗斯来说，这意味着其自冷战结束以来所获条件的重大改善。西方邀请俄罗斯参加北约-俄罗斯委员会和G-8等组织，这些举动都具有象征重要性及由此带来的政治价值，但它们只不过提供了讨论的场合，并没有产生约束性协议。