MOSCOW: Those who expect to have Moscow return to the CFE Treaty should awaken from their illusions, and the West will have to recognize tha...
MOSCOW: Those who expect to have Moscow return to the CFE Treaty should awaken from their illusions, and the West will have to recognize that the document runs counter to Russia’s security interests, a senior Russian diplomat said in an interview with Parlamentskaya Gezeta, published on Monday.
"The CFE Treaty has malfunctioned for years, so our withdrawal from it cannot make the situation any worse," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. "At the same time, those who still hoped to get Russia back into the treaty, need to abandon their illusions, as the CFE Treaty runs counter to our security interests amid the current developments. And the West will have to recognize this obvious fact," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday appointed Ryabkov as his official representative when the CFE treaty denunciation was being considered in parliament.
The CFE Treaty was signed in 1990 and adapted in 1999. However, NATO countries did not ratify the adapted version of the CFE and have continued to adhere to the 1990 provisions, based on the conventional arms balance between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. As a result, Russia was compelled to declare a moratorium on implementing the terms of the treaty in 2007.
On March 11, 2015, Russia suspended its participation in meetings of the Joint Consultative Group on the CFE Treaty, completing the process of suspending its membership in the CFE while remaining a purely de jure party to the treaty. Since then, Belarus has represented Russia’s interests in the Joint Consultative Group.
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