By RIA Novosti
Washington, The United States is likely to take part in a conference of signatories to a treaty seeking conventional arms control in Europe next month, a State Department spokesman has said.
Russia, concerned about Europe’s refusal to ratify a re-drafted Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and its acceptance of US missile shield plans on the continent, had proposed Monday holding an emergency CFE conference in Vienna June 12-15.
The spokesman Tuesday said the US was prepared to discuss any issues related to the treaty, which Russians would like to clarify, and in any format.
The foreign ministry of the Netherlands, the designated depository for the treaty, said earlier Tuesday the conference would be held within the next 15 days.
President Vladimir Putin suggested recently Moscow might suspend its obligations under the accord if talks with NATO countries show no visible progress in its implementation.
No NATO members have yet ratified it, demanding that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases in Georgia and Moldova under the Istanbul Agreements.
The original CFE Treaty, designed to curb an arms race between the Communist bloc and NATO and which was amended in 1999 taking account of the post-Cold War realities, has so far only been ratified by Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine.