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Russia no longer bound by
CFE treaty
RIA
Novosti
Wednesday December 12, 2007
Russia's unilateral moratorium on a major arms reductions
treaty in Europe came into force immediately after midnight on
Wednesday.
The law to freeze Russia's participation in the Conventional
Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty has been unanimously approved by
parliament and signed on November 30 by President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow considers the original CFE treaty, signed in December
1990 by 16 NATO countries and six Warsaw Pact members, to be discriminatory
and outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the
Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion.
Russia is particularly concerned about the so called flank limitations
under the CFE treaty, which essentially prohibit Moscow from reinforcing
its military contingents in the North Caucasus military district
and in Russia's northwest Leningrad military district.
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Russia has been pushing for a new adapted version of the CFE,
which sets specific 'ceilings' for each participant of the treaty
on five categories of conventional weapons - battle tanks, armored
combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft and attack
helicopters.
However, NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal
from Moldova and Georgia as a condition for their ratification
of the modified document. As a result, only Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
and Kazakhstan have so far ratified the adapted document.
Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian General Staff, earlier
said that the current treaty favored the U.S. and NATO because
it allowed them to exceed national and territorial limitations
on the number of armaments, freely deploy and re-deploy military
contingents anywhere in Europe, and monitor Russian troops in
the European part of Russia.
According to Russia's Defense Ministry, NATO has substantially
exceeded armament levels permitted by the CFE for NATO members
- by 6,000 tanks, some 10,000 armored vehicles, over 5,000 artillery
items and 1,500 combat planes.
Baluyevsky also said at the time that the Baltic States, which
had not signed the adapted document, remained "grey zones"
not covered by arms control agreements.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement early on Wednesday
that under these unfair conditions Russia "had no alternative
but to suspend its CFE membership to protect its interests in
the sphere of military security."
The ministry said Russia would not immediately increase the strength
of its Armed Forces along its borders, but would not hesitate
to do so if the need arises.
"During the temporary suspension of Russia's participation
in the CFE treaty, the country will not be bound by limitations
[under the treaty], including by 'flank limitations', on the number
of deployed conventional weapons," the statement said.
"At the same time, we do not have plans to amass and concentrate
these weapons on the borders with our neighbors," the document
said.
In practical terms, Moscow will not share with NATO information
specified by the provisions of the CFE treaty, and will not allow
any NATO military inspections on the territory of the Russian
Federation.
The ministry also said that Russia could resume its participation
in the treaty shortly after NATO countries ratify the adapted
version of the CFE treaty, signed on November 19, 1999 by all
NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.
The moratorium "is justified politically, is legitimate,
and allows Russia to resume its participation in the treaty by
presidential decree if our [NATO] partners show their political
will [by ratifying the adapted document]," the statement
said.
The ministry reiterated that Russia proposed to NATO concrete
measures to revive the arms control treaty, which the West considers
the cornerstone of European security. They include agreements
on how to compensate for misbalances in the number of deployed
weaponry, which emerged after NATO's expansion, and the abolishment
of the so called flank limitations on the territory of Russia.
In addition, Moscow insists that new NATO members - Estonia,
Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia - must sign the treaty and immediately
ratify it together with other NATO countries.
"We are waiting for a constructive response from NATO to
these proposals," the Foreign Ministry said, stressing the
need for productive dialogue on the issue with respect to mutual
concerns.
"Russia is ready to continue a result-oriented dialogue
on the CFE even during the current moratorium," the statement
concluded.
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