Brussels - NATO and its Russian-dominated counterpart, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), should work together to form a new security system in Europe, the head of the CSTO said in Brussels on Wednesday.

"Nowadays, the system of the balance of power in Europe is failing. The security architecture has to be re-made," CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha told journalists in Brussels.

"We think that the situation demands that (the CSTO and NATO) work together," he said after talks with the ambassadors of CSTO member states at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

Bordyuzha's comments came amidst a debate over a call from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for a "new security architecture" in Europe to replace the current stand-off between Russia and the West over issues such as NATO expansion into the former USSR and missile defence.

NATO members are divided over the call, but united in insisting that any new system should not be allowed to sideline their alliance.

Bordyuzha's statement implies that both alliances could be part of any future deal, in what is likely to be taken as a positive sign by NATO members.

"We're ready to unite our efforts" with NATO, he said.

The CSTO is a group of seven countries - Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Uzbekistan - who have pledged to jointly defend one another's security.

August's war between Russia and Georgia led to a crisis in relations between NATO and Russia. The Western alliance broke off formal ties with Russia immediately after the war, and only decided to renew them on Thursday.

But Bordyuzha said that he saw no reason for a collision between the CSTO - sometimes referred to as the "Russian NATO" - and NATO.

"They are all dealing with the same problems of security," such as terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal migration. The CSTO has been pushing for the last four to five years for more cooperation with NATO on those issues, he said.

"Unfortunately, NATO is not ready to talk with us," he said.

At the same time, he warned that Ukraine would face potentially disastrous consequences if its government pushed for NATO membership.

"Ukraine's defence structures are so linked with those of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan ... They would be destroyed," he said.

Russia would be forced to bring in a new visa regime for Ukrainians, affecting millions of people, he said. (dpa)