By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia will not raise the issue of its withdrawal from the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty at a conference in Vienna in mid-June, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
Russia, concerned over Europe's refusal to ratify the re-drafted arms control treaty and the acceptance by certain European Union states of US missile shield plans on the continent, has proposed holding an emergency CFE conference in Vienna June 12-15.
"This conference was designed as a forum to set out our concerns [in the arms control sphere]," Lavrov told a news conference after his trip to South Korea.
The minister reiterated that Russia could not accept "artificial links" between the observance of the treaty and the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Georgia or units guarding former Soviet ammunition stockpiles in Moldova.
"These attempts [to link the issues] do not have any legal grounds, and those who insist on these preconditions have already told us that it is not a legal matter, but a political one," Lavrov said.
President Vladimir Putin earlier said Russia could withdraw from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, arguing that the pact had not been ratified by any NATO member states.
NATO members have demanded that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases in Georgia and Moldova under previous agreements.