Russia withdrew troops from Afghanistan, Vietnam and Cuba and destroyed heavy weapons according to the treaty, Putin said, but the western partners would not ratify it.

On the NATO side, leaders of its 26 member nations called in a statement on Thursday for Russia to lift the moratorium on the treaty.

"The current situation, where NATO CFE Allies implement the treaty while Russia does not, cannot last indefinitely," the statement said.

It said that the military alliance had offered "a set of constructive and forward-looking proposals ... We believe these proposals address all of Russia's stated concerns," without elaborating the contents of the proposals.

The missile shield to be deployed by the U.S. in the Czech Republic and Poland is another thing that gets on Russia's nerves.

Putin is expected to continue talks on the topics with U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The only achievement resulting from Friday's NATO-Russia Council Summit meeting was that they forged a land transit deal allowing the military bloc to cross Russia's land to transport non-military goods to its peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan.

The agreement on food, spare parts, fuel and transport vehicles was the "only concrete result" from the meeting, said a NATO spokeswoman.