The article under review titled as “Russia formally pulls out of Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe” was published in Al-Jazeera. The article brings the spotlight on the Russian withdrawal from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). It was an international security pact which restricts the use of conventional weapons. Russian foreign ministry stated that the expansion of NATO has made the cooperation with West more difficult. Furthermore, the CPE was termed as ‘history’ by the Russian foreign ministry because the terms and conditions of the treaty were not catering the interests of Russia. This action was taken after a week of Russian revocation of its ratification from Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces (CFE) was signed in 1990 after the fall of Berlin Wall. The objective of this treaty was to constrain the weapons buildup by the Cold War rivals to prevent a swift assault. On the other hand, NATO blames Russia for not adhering to the terms of the treaty by pointing out the suspension of Russian participation in 2007 and 2015. In May 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed the official order to denounce the treaty. Russian foreign ministry further elaborated that the CFE was bound to terminate after the formation of new European and global security framework, based on cooperation. The CFE no longer safeguards the interests of Russia especially when the US and its allies refused to sign the updated version of treaty in 1999. The US defended its actions by linking the Russian military deployment in Georgia and Moldova. Russia condemns this linkage and is of the view that this linkage is completely wrong.
Moreover, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has significant impact on US-Russia relations. Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov stated, “Relations with the US are below zero”. Meanwhile, NATO condemns the Russian withdrawal from the CFE treaty and further stated that Russia has not been complying with the terms and conditions of the treaty for many years. Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Belarus issue are some other factors which are in contrary to the objectives of the CFE treaty.
The writer is a student of “Strategic Studies” at “National Defence University” and a member of PYDIR.