Posted on 02/09/2004 1:19:22 PM PST by klpt
Russia was considering pulling out of asecurity treaty that limits troop movements and conventional weapons throughout Europe and Russia, Sergei Ivanov, Russian defence minister, told an international security conference in Munich.
The threat stunned US and European defence officials, since a decision by Russia to withdraw from the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty would destroy one of the main cornerstones of European security.
John McCain, Republican senator, was one of the few top US officials at the conference to accuse Moscow of reneging on its treaty commitments and its policies in Chechnya.
The CFE treaty, negotiated during the 1980s by the then Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, represented one of the most significant breakthroughs on reducing conventional forces between Nato and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.
But since 1999, when the treaty was updated to take into account the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia has consistently refused to ratify the treaty and withdraw its forces from several parts of the Caucasus.
Russia has two military bases in republic of Georgia, now led by a new and democratic government that wants to join Nato.
Russian officials said Moscow had no money to pay for the redeployment of the troops but the US recently offered to help with the costs. Colin Powell, US secretary of state, raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin last month, signalling a tougher approach from Washington.
Russia also has troops and armaments in Trans Dniestr, whose pro-Russian communist-led leadership wants to break away from Moldova.
Mr Ivanov said the amended treaty "in its actual form cannot continue to uphold stability and the balance of interests" largely because of the way Nato has expanded. The treaty, he added, could end up a relic of the cold war, like the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty the US and Russia scrapped two years ago.
Nato will admit seven new countries in April, three of which are the Baltic states. This, said Mr Ivanov, would undermine the treaty, as several of the new members would remain outside it, "making the treaty system of limitations imperfect".
Diplomats said Russia believed it might have some leverage ahead of the Nato expansion because Moscow might link ratification and implementation of the CFE treaty to any move by Nato to establish new bases in Poland and the Baltic countries.
Mr Ivanov, however, made clear Russia would not stop Nato enlargement, but equally made it clear the future of the CFE treaty was not guaranteed.
Sheesh... sounds like a plea for a hand-out.
Americans would have just told the troops to pack up everything they were issued, and be ready for a road march. ;)
I respectfully disagree. Russian troops don't threaten the US. Let Germany, France, and the Chocolate Countries fend for themselves. It might wake them from the "post militarism" stupor.
Well, that depends, now doesn't it? Russian troops don't threaten the US?- We could have said the same for the entire length of the Cold War as well. It depends upon what Russia's ambitions are. Russia being one of the few nations on Earth that can actually reach out and touch someone in meaningful way.
Let us not forget, Poles, pro-American and Communist led.
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