Putin seeks to suspend Russia’s obligations under CFE Treaty

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was suspending Russia's obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, a move he linked to U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Europe. The CFE treaty sets limits on the quantity, type and location of conventional armaments countries on either side of the old Iron Curtain can maintain. Putin, in a hawkish annual speech to both houses of parliament, said the NATO signatories to the 1990 treaty were not respecting it, and the US plan to put missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic made matters worse. Putin announced a moratorium on Russian observance of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. He threatened that Russia might withdraw from the treaty altogether unless Nato countries ratified a revised version agreed in 1999. This move is considered by the experts as a proof of Russia’s intention to increase forces on two European wings – Transnistria and Kaliningrad. "I propose discussing this problem in the NATO-Russia Council, and, should there be no progress in the negotiations, to look at the possibility of ceasing our commitments under the CFE treaty," Putin said. Also, he affirmed it was an anachronism that Russia should be restricted in how it can deploy its armed forces within its own borders, while NATO countries used pretexts to bend the terms of the treaty. He threatened that Russia might withdraw from the treaty altogether unless NATO countries ratified a revised version agreed in 1999. The speech of Putin presents the concerns of Moscow regarding the American military bases on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria as well as the plans to station elements of anti-missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. "That message was met by concern, grave concern, disappointment and regret", said alliance Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "The allies are of the opinion that the CFE is one of the cornerstones of European security", he added. NATO has repeatedly asked Moscow to withdraw its troops from Moldova and Georgia. The CFE Treaty was negotiated in the months after the Cold War among the then-22 member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries with the goal of achieving verifiable reductions in conventional military equipment. Only Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine have ratified an adapted 1999 version, with NATO states holding out until Russia withdraws its remaining troops from Georgia and Moldova. This treaty refers only to the European zone – so that Moscow moved over 57 thousand pieces of hard artillery and tanks beyond the Ural. The moratorium over the Treaty would mean returning the armament to the borders of the EU – most possible locations being the Kaliningrad enclave and Transnistria – the breakaway region of Moldova.