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Russia suspends arms agreement

Vladimir Radyuhin

Threatens to deploy deadly missiles on its Western borders

MOSCOW: Russia has suspended compliance with a key arms pact in Europe in a move designed to bring pressure on the West to accommodate Moscow’s security concerns.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the suspension of participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) due to “extraordinary circumstances ... which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures,” according to a presidential decree issued on Saturday. Suspension means that Russia would be able to build up forces near its borders and would stop on-site inspections by NATO countries and information exchanges on forces and movements.

Mr. Putin has repeatedly threatened to suspend the CFE unless NATO ratifies the 1999 amended version of the pact, scales down its “excessive” forces along Russian borders and reverses plans for U.S. military bases and anti-missile defences in Eastern Europe. Russia has also demanded the lifting of the CFE restrictions on forces it can deploy along its flanks, particularly the northern Caucasus, a hotbed of Islamist separatism.

NATO has stalled on the CFE ratification to compel Russia to pull out its bases from Georgia and Moldova. While Moscow has practically completed the withdrawal from Georgia, it insists on maintaining a small peace-keeping force in Transdniester, a pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova, which the West is keen to take into its fold. However, resurgent Russia has refused to bow to pressure and threatened to deploy new deadly missiles along its Western borders if its demands are not met. Moscow said it would withdraw from the CFE if NATO fails to ratify it by July 2008.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the CFE suspension “does not mean that we have closed the door on dialogue”. “Once the issues raised by us are resolved, it will be possible to jointly implement the treaty provisions within a fairly short time.”

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