Russia withdraws from Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe

On Mar 11 2015, Russia stopped any activity under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), reports the country’s foreign ministry.

The decision was announced during the last plenary session of the CFE Joint Consultative Group in Vienna. It was a follow-up on Russia’s July 2007 decision to suspend its activities under the treaty.

This does not, however, mean that the country will refuse to discuss ways to control conventional armed forces in Europe if one day its partners express readiness to do it.

“We are still ready for joint work on a conventional arms control regime that will serve the interests of both Russia and Europe,” spokesman of the ministry Anton Mazur said.

From now on, Russia’s interests in the CFE Joint Consultative Group will be represented by Belarus.

CFE was signed in Nov 1990 by NATO and Warsaw Treaty members and took force in Nov 1992. It allowed both camps to have equal quantities of conventional arms. After the collapse of the Soviet Union some post-Soviet republics refused to ratify the treaty. In June 2007, Russia convoked a special CFE conference in Vienna and said that the treaty could not be considered valid unless the Baltic states joined it and unless NATO curtailed its arms. The conferees failed to agree and in July 2007 Russia suspended its activities under CFE.