Russia's parliament voted unanimously yesterday to suspend a key
arms treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe, saying the US
and NATO were using the pact to undermine Russia's defenses.
Ignoring appeals from the US, the Duma (lower house of
parliament) approved 418-0 a law allowing Moscow to stop complying
with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, seen by the
West as a cornerstone of European security.
The suspension, ordered by President Vladimir Putin as part of a
wave of increasingly aggressive moves against the West ahead of
elections, will take effect on December 12.
Russia's top general Yuri Baluyevsky said the CFE treaty, which
limits the number of heavy conventional weapons deployed and stored
between the Atlantic and Russia's Ural mountains, unfairly
penalised Moscow.
"The current treaty fully suits the US and NATO," Baluyevsky,
the chief of general staff, told parliament.
"The treaty allows, practically without any limits, the
realization of the strategy for NATO to move eastwards, carrying
out the reconfiguration of the US' military presence in Europe and
for constant monitoring of the composition and state of Russia's
military in the European zone."
Russia had no plans to immediately deploy more forces in the
West and in the Caucasus, he added, though it reserved the right to
do so.
Russia's move comes after months of sparring with the US and EU
over plans for a missile defense shield and proposed independence
for Serbia's Kosovo province.
Putin, who has sought to restore the Kremlin's international
clout after the chaos which accompanied the 1991 fall of the Soviet
Union, gave formal 150-day notice in July about suspending the
treaty.
The US, Europe and NATO have all urged Russia not to scrap the
treaty, saying it is a vital guarantor of stability in post Cold
War Europe. But Moscow has been adamant it will suspend the pact
unless NATO agrees to major changes.
NATO did not offer immediate comment on the Duma vote but one
official said the alliance's position remained unchanged.
"We do not want to see any suspension on the treaty and there
are intensive consultations continuing among the parties," said the
official, who requested anonymity.
Russian diplomats said Moscow was trying to send a message to
the West that the treaty needed to be reworked and ratified but
that the West had "not heard" Moscow's concerns.
"Russia's actions do not have an aggressive or destructive
character - they are directed not to destroy the system of current
agreements but to attract attention of our partners to our
concerns," said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak.
"We are not trying to bring any damage to arms control but to
give an impulse to the resumption of a workable treaty," Kislyak,
who deals with US relations, told parliament.
The debate in parliament was full of references to how Russia
had been "deceived" by the United States and NATO.
The law approved on Wednesday - just three clauses long - gives
Putin a free hand to suspend Russia's participation in the treaty
or to restore it at any time in the future.
The draft still needs final approval from the upper house of
parliament and from Putin before becoming law but these steps are
regarded as formalities.
The CFE treaty, signed in 1990 and updated in 1999, limits the
number of tanks, combat aircraft and heavy artillery which can be
deployed or stored in the vast area stretching from the Atlantic to
Russia's Ural mountains.
Western partners have refused to ratify an amended version of
the pact until Russia pulls its forces out of Georgia and Moldova,
as it promised in 1999 when the treaty was reviewed.
(China Daily November 8, 2007)
