By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia could lift its moratorium on the treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe if NATO countries ratify the amended version of the document, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.
The post-Soviet accord limits Russian and NATO conventional forces and heavy weaponry in Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals.
“We have imposed a moratorium on the old treaty without abandoning it,” acting Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak told lawmakers at a session of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma.
“If all issues with our NATO partners are resolved, we will put into force the amended version of the treaty,” he said.
On July 14 Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on Russia’s compliance with the treaty. The president’s announcement came after a tense conference in Vienna, where NATO member states refused to ratify the amended version of the document, demanding that Russia fully withdraw its troops from Georgia and Moldova, a commitment given by former president Boris Yeltsin in Istanbul, in 1999.
The Russian diplomat said NATO countries had been intentionally delaying ratification of the document to keep the newcomers to the alliance, in particular the Baltic states, out of the treaty.
According to Russia’s Defence Ministry, in the past decade, NATO has exceeded the limitations on deployed weaponry by at least 6,000 tanks, 10,000 armoured vehicles, more than 5,000 artillery pieces and 1,500 aircraft.
“Under these circumstances, NATO has the possibility of increasing its strength to levels over and above the limitations (set by the treaty),” Kislyak said.
Kislyak said Russia was seriously concerned about the presence of three NATO members close to its borders – Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania – that are not party to the treaty.
“We have a zone comprising three countries near our borders, where no limitations on conventional weaponry are applied, and this is unacceptable,” he said.
“In the view of our Western partners, they could deploy as many weapons there as their territory allows,” Kislyak said.
However, he said Russia would actively participate in the work of an informal conference on the treaty scheduled for Oct 1-2 in Germany.