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Russia ready to renegotiate Cold War-era treaty: Lavrov
Berlin (AFP) Dec 18, 2007 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in an article Tuesday that Russia was prepared to renegotiate with the West on a Cold War-era treaty setting limits on troops and weapons that it froze this month. Lavrov said the suspension of compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) was an attempt to "revive" the treaty, taking into account new factors that could affect Russia's security. "The moratorium does not represent a threat to Europe's security," he wrote in German business daily Handelsblatt. "We are not planning any immediate conventional rearmament. Our measures are linked to the specific military-political situation and the willingness of our partners to exercise restraint." He said Western countries must accept amendments to the 1990 treaty agreed in 1999 and ratified by Moscow if Russia is to lift the suspension. "The moratorium does not close the door to future negotiations. We never stopped the dialogue and are ready to resume it any time, in whatever format," Lavrov said. NATO countries refuse to ratify the amended treaty, which took into account the huge geopolitical changes wrought by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, until Russian troops withdraw from ex-Soviet republics Georgia and Moldova. They say their presence violates the CFE, a charge Moscow rejects. "The suspension of the CFE treaty -- not the retreat from it -- became unavoidable as all the other measures to begin a serious dialogue failed," Lavrov said. He said the current situation with the CFE was "unacceptable" to Moscow, but said: "At least a few NATO states appear, however, to find this situation satisfactory because it allows them to maintain military superiority over all other European states that do not belong to NATO, including Russia." He said NATO had "11.6 times as many tanks, 4.8 times as many mechanised infantry combat vehicles and 8.3 times as much artillery" stationed on its southern flank as Russia. The CFE places precise limits on the stationing of troops and heavy weapons from the Atlantic coast to the Ural mountains -- a mammoth agreement that helped resolve the Cold War standoff. Moscow's decision to suspend compliance drew fire from Western governments, which have increasingly clashed with President Vladimir Putin's resurgent Russia. Related Links Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Russian army chief accuses West over arms control
Moscow (AFP) Dec 15, 2007The Russian army's chief of staff accused the West on Saturday of playing politics with European arms control and warned that the launch of US interceptor missiles could trigger a Russian missile strike. |
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