The State Duma on Tuesday denounced the CFE Treaty, an agreement signed in the early 1990s that limited the number of military equipment in Europe in five categories (tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft and helicopters). According to the deputies, withdrawing from this agreement is in the interests of ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the denunciation of the CFE Treaty a “historic moment”, expressing the hope that the West would “draw conclusions.” The Security Council of the Russian Federation also noted that now Russia can place weapons wherever it wants.
State Duma adopted law on Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty. On May 10, it was submitted to parliamentarians by Russian President Vladimir Putin. When considering the issue of denunciation of the CFE Treaty, the head of state then appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov as his official representative, who on Tuesday addressed the deputies.
According to the diplomat, “the collective West, by its destructive actions, made it impossible for Russia to stay in the CFE Treaty.” “I hope that in the West, in the camp of our opponents, all these signals will be taken very seriously into account. This is a historical moment, they (Western countries.— “uh”) should draw conclusions,” he said. At the same time, the Deputy Minister stressed that Russia is no longer interested in discussing the subject of the CFE Treaty with the Western countries remaining in it. “This chapter is over, the page is turned, there will be no more return to this document for Russia,” Mr. Ryabkov said. “There is no subject for any consultations here, this should have been done earlier, the door has been kept open for 15 years since the suspension (by Russia. — “uh”) of the agreement in 2007”.
Recall that in 2007 Russia suspended its participation in the CFE Treaty, as a condition for returning to its implementation, demanding from NATO member states to ratify its updated version, and from the Baltic countries to sign and ratify it. However, they did not take such a step, putting forward counter conditions to Moscow. It was not possible to agree (for more details on the history of the agreement, see Kommersant of May 11).
State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday that the deputies decided to denounce the CFE Treaty, “guided by the interests of our citizens, in order to ensure the security of the Russian Federation.”
The explanatory note to the draft law adopted by the State Duma stated that the treaty, which established the balance of power between the member states of the two military-political alliances – the Warsaw Pact and NATO – at lower levels and limited the possibility of deploying their conventional weapons along the line of contact, “is largely outdated and lost connection with reality. “Since 2007, the situation in Europe in the field of conventional weapons has noticeably deteriorated. The United States and its allies are pursuing a line of military confrontation with Russia, fraught with catastrophic consequences,” the note also says.
The Federation Council is expected to consider a bill to denounce the CFE Treaty early next week. After that, Russia will send a notification to other states parties to the treaty about the completion of national procedures for withdrawing from the agreement. No later than three weeks after that, a special conference will be convened at which Russia will have another opportunity to state its position publicly. According to Kommersant’s information, this event will most likely take place in Vienna (perhaps in a hybrid format).
According to Sergei Ryabkov, it will take about six months to fully complete Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty in accordance with its provisions.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, commenting in his Telegram channel denunciation of the CFE Treaty by the State Duma, wrote: “He is going there.” “This document lost its relevance for us back in 2007. But now, even in the line of previously suspended international obligations, nothing prevents us from placing our weapons where we want to protect our national interests. Including our Russian part of Europe,” he noted and added: “And of course, we will maximize the production of weapons, military and special equipment and weapons.”
As Kommersant already wrote, since 2007, Western countries have repeatedly called on Russia to return to the implementation of the CFE Treaty – the last time in January-February 2022 in written responses from the United States and NATO to Russia’s demands for security guarantees. But the parties failed to reach an agreement. There have not yet been any loud statements from Western officials regarding Russia’s final withdrawal from the CFE Treaty. Sergei Ryabkov, however, during his speech in the State Duma noted that the West reacted to the latest news from Moscow “not without an element of anxiety.” “Of course, we understand that this (Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty.— “uh”) does not add a sense of security in the West,” he stated.
At the same time, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, wrote on Tuesday in his Telegram channelthat Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty “does not rule out the possibility of creating in Europe a new conventional arms control regime that would correspond to contemporary realities and needs.” “However, this task is not on the agenda yet,” he specified.
#CFE #grave #Kommersant
2023-05-16 20:03:30
