Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov
©Government of the Russian Federation / duma.gov.ru
Russia is terminating the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), in which Moscow previously suspended its participation. Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov as his representative when the parliament considers this issue.
Order of the Russian leader published on Wednesday, May 10, on the Internet portal of legal information.
The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was signed on November 19, 1990 in Paris. The document entered into force only two years later – in 1992. It was signed by 16 NATO member countries, including Germany, the USA, Great Britain, and six Warsaw Pact states (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia).
The treaty allows its parties to have an equal number of conventional weapons and military equipment. In addition, the CFE Treaty establishes limits on the presence of armed forces in the treaty zone.
At the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, an updated version of the treaty was signed. The document was ratified by only four countries (RF, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan).
The Russian side stated in 2007 that the CFE Treaty is not viable unless a number of conditions are met and three countries join the treaty – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the same time, Putin signed a decree suspending Moscow’s participation in the CFE Treaty.
On March 10, 2015, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in the meetings of the Joint Consultative Group on CFE.
