Russia declared a moratorium on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty in the hope that the move would encourage its partners to ratify it

Monday, January 25, 2021

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Russia declared a moratorium on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) in the hope that the move would encourage its partners to ratify it, a Russian deputy foreign minister said Monday. "In May, we announced a moratorium on the implementation of the old CFE Treaty, and are expecting our partners to ratify an agreement on its adaptation. Russia's moves are designed to compel our partners to think about the future of the treaty," Alexander Grushko said in an interview with the Vremya Novostei daily. He said the old treaty, which was signed in 1990, is now at variance with the new military-political reality. In particular, new NATO member countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania - are still listed as the "Eastern group of states," with their weapons included in the quotas of the former Warsaw Pact. At the same time, the three Baltic states are unable to join the adapted CFE Treaty because it has not gone into effect, the official said. Apart from Russia, only Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have ratified the adapted CFE Treaty. "All of this creates an illusion of arms control in Europe," Grushko said. NATO states have argued that Russia should first withdraw its troops from Moldova and Georgia before the alliance's members ratify the amended CFE treaty, while Moscow insists the issues are unrelated. Putin has threatened to impose a moratorium on Russia's participation in the crucial arms reduction accord, linking ratification delays to the planned deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Europe and the expected opening of new NATO bases in Bulgaria and Romania. The 1990 conventional armaments control treaty between the trans-Atlantic alliance and the former Warsaw Pact was updated in 1999 to reflect the realities of the post-Cold War era.

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