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Russia begins arms treaty freeze Russia begins arms treaty freeze
(about 19 hours later)
Russia has gone ahead with plans to suspend its participation in one of the key arms control agreements dating from the Cold War. Russia has formally suspended its participation in a key arms control agreement dating from the Cold War.
The Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty sets limits on troops and weaponry across Europe.The Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty sets limits on troops and weaponry across Europe.
The suspension means Russia is free to move troops without notifying Nato. The suspension means Russia can move troops without notifying Nato. The bloc voiced "deep regret" over the move.
Russia is unhappy with Nato expansion and US plans for missile defences in central Europe and says the treaty no longer serves its interests.Russia is unhappy with Nato expansion and US plans for missile defences in central Europe and says the treaty no longer serves its interests.
The CFE is often seen as one of the most important arms control agreements of the Cold War years. The CFE treaty was signed by Western and former Warsaw Pact states in 1990, but was revised in 1999 to take account of former Soviet satellites joining Nato.
The agreement set strict numerical and geographical limits on Nato and Warsaw Pact deployments of key conventional weapons systems like tanks, artillery and warplanes. However the alliance - unlike Russia - has refused to approve the updates until Moscow pulls its remaining troops out of Georgia and Moldova.
Now the Warsaw Pact is history. 'No troop build-up'
Accordingly, the CFE treaty was amended. But Russia has long objected to Nato demands that it remove its forces from the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova before the updated agreement can be ratified. Russia suspended its participation in the CFE at midnight on Wednesday (2100 GMT Tuesday).
A Russian suspension of the CFE treaty does not mean that armoured battalions are suddenly going to sweep in one direction or another. CFE TREATY Cornerstone of European securityLimits amount of key military equipment in designated areaNegotiated by Nato and ex-Warsaw Pact statesSigned in 1990Came into force in 1992Nato never ratified revised 1999 version
Russian concerns The foreign ministry in Moscow said Russia had stopped exchanging information stipulated by the treaty and had stopped receiving foreign inspectors.
In practical terms a whole range of inspections and transparency measures intended to bolster mutual military trust will be suspended. "At the same time we do not have plans in the current circumstances for a massive build-up or concentration of forces of the borders with neighbours," it said in a statement.
That, arms control experts say, will be a loss. Nato expressed it "deep regret" over Moscow's move, but stressed that the military alliance would not take any retaliatory action.
But this is not fundamentally a dispute about the CFE agreement as such. "Nato allies... want to resolve the current impasse and preserve the benefits of this landmark treaty," a Nato statement said.
Russia's suspension of the treaty is an interesting move since Western governments insist that there is no scope for suspension - they say you either accept the treaty or withdraw from it. "They have therefore chosen not to respond in kind at this stage," it said.
The suspension stems from much broader strategic concerns. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the continent's main security watchdog, criticised Moscow for undermining "a cornerstone" of efforts to reduce tensions in Europe.
Russia is alarmed at Nato's eastward expansion; at Washington's plans for missile defences in central Europe; and concerned about a whole range of issues where it believes Russia's views are being ignored. "The suspension... is not good news," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship in the OSCE, said in a statement.
The Russian political calendar also does not help, with President Vladimir Putin and his supporters eager to play up the nationalist card ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections. In practical terms the Russian move means that a whole range of inspections and transparency measures intended to bolster mutual military trust will be suspended, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says.
That, arms control experts argue, will be a loss.