THE IMPLICATIONS OF RUSSIA’S MORATORIUM OF THE CFE TREATY
THE IMPLICATIONS OF RUSSIA’S MORATORIUM OF THE CFE TREATY

Summary/Abstract: In November 7, Russia’s lower house of Parliament - the State Duma - unanimously approved President Vladimir Putin’s bill to suspend Moscow’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, although neither the original nor the amended version of the accord allows for suspension. According to a November 13 report from RIA-Novosti, “The moratorium is set to come into effect on December 12, after final approval by the upper house of parliament, expected to vote on the issue on November 16, and President Vladimir Putin”. Russia has, therefore, put into practice what it had threatened to do on April 26, 2007. On that day, during the annual state-of-the-nation address, Putin announced that Russia would impose a “moratorium” on the CFE Treaty if all NATO members failed to ratify the Treaty’s modified 1999 version. Moscow points out the fact that Russia is one of the few countries that have ratified the revised accords, together with Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also stresses the fact that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- now NATO members -- still have not ratified either versions of the CFE Treaty.

• Details
• Contents