NATO called on Russia to refuse to withdraw from the CFE Treaty

NATO member countries condemn Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) and call on Moscow to continue fulfilling its obligations. About it says in an alliance statement.

“The Allies call on Russia to fulfill its obligations and use the time remaining before the exit to reconsider its decision,” the statement said.

NATO countries called the CFE Treaty the “cornerstone” of the European security architecture and noted that Russia’s decision to withdraw from the treaty “undermines Euro-Atlantic security.” The Alliance also recalled that Russia ceased to comply with the CFE Treaty back in 2007.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation informedthat Russia will finally withdraw from the CFE Treaty on November 7th. Along with the denunciation of the CFE Treaty, a number of related international treaties also cease to operate: the so-called Budapest Agreement of November 3, 1990 and the Flank Document of May 31, 1996. The purpose of the first was “to determine the levels of conventional weapons for each of the participants in the then Warsaw Pact”, and the second was intended to solve “the problem of flank restrictions that arose in connection with the demise of the USSR.”

May 29 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed federal law on the denunciation of the CFE Treaty. The document was submitted to the State Duma on May 10, and already on May 16 the deputies unanimously adopted it. The law came into force on June 9.

Commenting on the signing of the law on denunciation, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov expelled any direct consequences for Russia, since the mechanism was already inanimate, and Moscow, by this document, brought the situation into line with what is happening de facto. At the same time, he pointed to a “large vacuum” in the field of arms control, “which urgently needs to be filled with new acts of international law.”

The treaty was signed in November 1990 by 16 member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia) and took into account the balance of conventional weapons between these two blocs. It fixed the restriction of five categories of weapons and equipment: tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm, combat aircraft and attack helicopters. The document also provided for the exchange of information and inspection activities in the participating countries.