Interceptor
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Putin threatens Russian pull-out from landmark arms treaty
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened Russian withdrawal from a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty in a heightening of tensions over a planned US missile defence system in Europe.
In response to Putin's threat, the NATO military alliance reaffirmed its commitment to the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rebuffed Russian criticism of Washington's missile defence plans as "ludicrous."
Making his last state of the nation speech in Moscow, Putin said Russia could pull out of the 1990 CFE treaty until all of NATO's current members ratified it.
"It would be appropriate to announce a moratorium on Russian adherence to this treaty until it has been ratified by all NATO countries without exception," Putin said.
Putin said Washington was exploiting difficulties with the CFE to expand missile defence facilities into central Europe.
"Our partners are conducting themselves incorrectly to say the least, gaining one-sided advantages," he said.
"They are using the complicated situation to expand military bases near our borders. Moreover they plan to locate elements of a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland."
The CFE treaty was signed in 1990 in Paris by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the former Warsaw Pact to limit military hardware in the region.
It was adapted in Istanbul in 1999 following the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, in order to limit deployments on a country-by-country basis.
But NATO states have refused to ratify the new pact on the grounds that Moscow has failed to honour commitments made in Istanbul to withdraw Russian forces from the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.
Putin's insistance that all countries ratify the CFE appeared particularly aimed at the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were once part of the Soviet Union and are not part of the treaty. The three are all now members of NATO.
Putin insisted there was no connection between ratification and the issue of Russian troops in Georgia and Moldova, which he said Moscow was working to resolve anyway.
"Juridically, the CFE has nothing to do with the Istanbul agreements" on Georgia and Moldova, Putin said.
He underlined that Russia had been complying with the CFE treaty and had virtually no military forces in the northwest and European areas of the country.
"What about them?" Putin said. "Our partners have not even ratified the treaty.
An unnamed Kremlin official was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Western countries should decide on ratification within a year.
Responding to Putin at a NATO meeting in Oslo, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance remained committed to ratifying the adapted treaty.
"NATO allies attach great importance to the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and its ratification," he told reporters.
"We also know that there are still a number of hurdles in the way called the Istanbul commitments," he said, referring to the issue of Russian forces in Georgia and Moldova.
Rice was sharply critical of Russia's stance on Washington's missile defence plans, which involve placing a radar system in Poland and interceptor rockets in the Czech Republic.
"The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic return is clearly ludicrous and everybody knows it," she said.
"The Russians have thousands of warheads. The idea that somehow you can stop the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent with a few interceptors just doesn't make sense," she told reporters in Oslo.
The increasingly testy rhetoric reflected increasing tensions over NATO's enlargement into territory once part of the former Soviet Union and Washington's championing of countries such as ex-Soviet Georgia.
Russia has portrayed Washington's missile defence plans as a dangerous encroachment that could fuel a new Cold War.
Washington says the missile shield is not aimed against Russia but intend to protect against "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Putin_threatens_Russian_pull_out_fr_04262007.html
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened Russian withdrawal from a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty in a heightening of tensions over a planned US missile defence system in Europe.
In response to Putin's threat, the NATO military alliance reaffirmed its commitment to the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rebuffed Russian criticism of Washington's missile defence plans as "ludicrous."
Making his last state of the nation speech in Moscow, Putin said Russia could pull out of the 1990 CFE treaty until all of NATO's current members ratified it.
"It would be appropriate to announce a moratorium on Russian adherence to this treaty until it has been ratified by all NATO countries without exception," Putin said.
Putin said Washington was exploiting difficulties with the CFE to expand missile defence facilities into central Europe.
"Our partners are conducting themselves incorrectly to say the least, gaining one-sided advantages," he said.
"They are using the complicated situation to expand military bases near our borders. Moreover they plan to locate elements of a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland."
The CFE treaty was signed in 1990 in Paris by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the former Warsaw Pact to limit military hardware in the region.
It was adapted in Istanbul in 1999 following the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, in order to limit deployments on a country-by-country basis.
But NATO states have refused to ratify the new pact on the grounds that Moscow has failed to honour commitments made in Istanbul to withdraw Russian forces from the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.
Putin's insistance that all countries ratify the CFE appeared particularly aimed at the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were once part of the Soviet Union and are not part of the treaty. The three are all now members of NATO.
Putin insisted there was no connection between ratification and the issue of Russian troops in Georgia and Moldova, which he said Moscow was working to resolve anyway.
"Juridically, the CFE has nothing to do with the Istanbul agreements" on Georgia and Moldova, Putin said.
He underlined that Russia had been complying with the CFE treaty and had virtually no military forces in the northwest and European areas of the country.
"What about them?" Putin said. "Our partners have not even ratified the treaty.
An unnamed Kremlin official was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Western countries should decide on ratification within a year.
Responding to Putin at a NATO meeting in Oslo, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance remained committed to ratifying the adapted treaty.
"NATO allies attach great importance to the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and its ratification," he told reporters.
"We also know that there are still a number of hurdles in the way called the Istanbul commitments," he said, referring to the issue of Russian forces in Georgia and Moldova.
Rice was sharply critical of Russia's stance on Washington's missile defence plans, which involve placing a radar system in Poland and interceptor rockets in the Czech Republic.
"The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic return is clearly ludicrous and everybody knows it," she said.
"The Russians have thousands of warheads. The idea that somehow you can stop the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent with a few interceptors just doesn't make sense," she told reporters in Oslo.
The increasingly testy rhetoric reflected increasing tensions over NATO's enlargement into territory once part of the former Soviet Union and Washington's championing of countries such as ex-Soviet Georgia.
Russia has portrayed Washington's missile defence plans as a dangerous encroachment that could fuel a new Cold War.
Washington says the missile shield is not aimed against Russia but intend to protect against "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Putin_threatens_Russian_pull_out_fr_04262007.html
