Russia to withdraw from Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
Headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow (Photo:REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)
Russia plans to withdraw completely from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which it signed in Paris in November 1990, having first suspended implementation of the treaty in March 2015.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin enacted the relevant order on May 10.
He tapped Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as his representative to consider the issue of the withdrawal in the Russian State Duma and the Federation Council.
Russia suspended its participation in the treaty back in 2007 as a protest against NATO’s expansion to the east, but participated in meetings of it joint advisory group.
However, it completely suspended treaty implementation in March 2015, participating in the agreement only in a formal sense until now.
Moscow announced that it would not participate in the group’s meetings under the treaty and asked Belarus to represent its interests there. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said they would not abandon the dialogue on conventional arms control in Europe.
The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was signed in 1990 by NATO and Warsaw Pact member states. It established the balance of the conventional armed forces of the participating countries at a lower level and limited the possibilities of deploying conventional weapons along the contact line between the blocs.
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