OREANDA-NEWS  Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). The decision, according to the explanatory note, was made due to the fact that the document is "outdated and has lost touch with reality."

The treaty concluded in 1990 between the 16 NATO countries, the USSR and its Warsaw Bloc allies established restrictions on conventional weapons - tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, aviation. In the explanatory note to the bill, it was noted that the document was quite effective for the beginning of the 90s as a tool for strengthening European security. However, it has lost relevance "under the influence of large-scale military and political changes, primarily related to the expansion of NATO."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, presenting the president's position in the State Duma, stressed that there is currently no possibility of returning to the CFE Treaty, an alternative to this agreement can be discussed after returning to normal relations with the West. And this is possible if he abandons the hostile policy.

Ryabkov drew attention to the fact that now even the formal preservation of our country's status as a party to the treaty has come into direct conflict with the interests of the country's national security. "We have already written it off for ourselves in the archive, left it in the past. What other States will do is a question for them. Somehow they will not be able to intimidate us with these or other steps," the diplomat continued. According to the Foreign Ministry, Russia will need six months to fully complete its withdrawal from the agreement.


According to Ryabkov, Moscow has information about the violation of the provisions of the treaty.