Moscow, 5 April -- Moscow sees no possibility for beginning talks on an adapted Treaty on Conventional Weapons in Europe (CFE) until a consensus is reached concerning the subject of the talks, Russian Federation Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko, has stated in an interview with RIA Novosti.
"Talks will not begin on an adapted CFE treaty, because the NATO countries, as is well known, have not ratified the 1999 Agreement on Adaptation," he said.
In the words of the high-ranking diplomat, "the possibility of developing the treaty on this basis was thereby closed off."
He indicated that the adapted CFE treaty is obsolete, and does not correspond to contemporary military-political realities. At the present time informal consultations are being held concerning the launch of talks on a fundamentally new regime for controlling conventional weapons in Europe, Grushko noted.
"They could begin when a consensus is reached concerning the subject of the talks, and if no attempts are undertaken to artificially link questions of arms control per se with political questions," the Russian Federation deputy foreign minister said.
At the end of March, Acting US Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller stated that the United States sees the possibility for cooperating with Russia on the CFE treaty. "But in order to continue the dialog, we must see new possibilities for the CFE treaty in the 21st century," she said.
The CFE treaty was signed by the Warsaw Pact and NATO states in 1990. Twenty-eight European states, and also the United States and Canada, are participants in the CFE treaty. The treaty imposes limitations on five categories of conventional weapons and equipment -- tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery weapons with a caliber of 100m and above, combat aircraft, and strike helicopters -- and provides for an exchange of information and extensive inspection activity.
A year after the signing of the treaty, the collapse of the USSR occurred. An updated version of the CFE treaty with the inclusion of new terms was signed in 1999 at the OSCE summit in Istanbul. With the acceptance of several East European states into NATO, the treaty's main principle concerning the need to ensure the balance of forces lost meaning. The treaty was maintained only thanks to the exchange of information and inspections. The United States announced the cessation of providing information under the CFE treaty 22 November last year.
Russia declared the unilateral suspension of participation in the CFE treaty in 2007, giving as its reason the unwillingness of NATO countries to ratify the adapted version of the treaty adopted in 1999. The decision was occasioned "by exceptional circumstances influencing the Russian Federation's security." At the same, Moscow is not rejecting the adoption of an adapted CFE treaty, and is waiting for it to be accepted by NATO partners. On the basis of the new document, for each member state arms and equipment are due to be transferred from the treaty's bloc structure to national and territorial levels.
Keywords: Russia, NATO - Russian News - Russia
Moscow, 5 April -- Moscow sees no possibility for beginning talks on an adapted Treaty on Conventional Weapons in Europe (CFE) until a consensus is reached concerning the subject of the talks, Russian Federation Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko, has stated in an interview with RIA Novosti.
"Talks will not begin on an adapted CFE treaty, because the NATO countries, as is well known, have not ratified the 1999 Agreement on Adaptation," he said.
In the words of the high-ranking diplomat, "the possibility of developing the treaty on this basis was thereby closed off."
He indicated that the adapted CFE treaty is obsolete, and does not correspond to contemporary military-political realities. At the present time informal consultations are being held concerning the launch of talks on a fundamentally new regime for controlling conventional weapons in Europe, Grushko noted.
"They could begin when a consensus is reached concerning the subject of the talks, and if no attempts are undertaken to artificially link questions of arms control per se with political questions," the Russian Federation deputy foreign minister said.
At the end of March, Acting US Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller stated that the United States sees the possibility for cooperating with Russia on the CFE treaty. "But in order to continue the dialog, we must see new possibilities for the CFE treaty in the 21st century," she said.
The CFE treaty was signed by the Warsaw Pact and NATO states in 1990. Twenty-eight European states, and also the United States and Canada, are participants in the CFE treaty. The treaty imposes limitations on five categories of conventional weapons and equipment -- tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery weapons with a caliber of 100m and above, combat aircraft, and strike helicopters -- and provides for an exchange of information and extensive inspection activity.
A year after the signing of the treaty, the collapse of the USSR occurred. An updated version of the CFE treaty with the inclusion of new terms was signed in 1999 at the OSCE summit in Istanbul. With the acceptance of several East European states into NATO, the treaty's main principle concerning the need to ensure the balance of forces lost meaning. The treaty was maintained only thanks to the exchange of information and inspections. The United States announced the cessation of providing information under the CFE treaty 22 November last year.
Russia declared the unilateral suspension of participation in the CFE treaty in 2007, giving as its reason the unwillingness of NATO countries to ratify the adapted version of the treaty adopted in 1999. The decision was occasioned "by exceptional circumstances influencing the Russian Federation's security." At the same, Moscow is not rejecting the adoption of an adapted CFE treaty, and is waiting for it to be accepted by NATO partners. On the basis of the new document, for each member state arms and equipment are due to be transferred from the treaty's bloc structure to national and territorial levels.