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Emergency Meeting On CFE Treaty Opens In Vienna

June 12, 2007 -- An emergency meeting is opening today in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the future of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.

The four-day conference was called by Russia in May after President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on Russia's participation in the pact the previous month.

Speaking at a press conference in Vienna before the start of the conference, Anatoly Antonov, head of Russia's delegation to the talks, appeared to soften Moscow's stance. Antonov said Russia had not "declared a moritorium" and was "not talking about withdrawing from the treaty."

Antonov said Moscow wants to "revitalize" the CFE, and in the short term was considering "suspending the operation of the treaty."

Treaty Limits

The treaty, first signed in 1990, sets limits on the number of military aircraft, tanks, and other nonnuclear heavy weaponry that can be deployed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains.

In 1999, the treaty was amended after countries in Central and Eastern Europe joined NATO.

But the United States and other NATO members have refused to ratify the amended version of the treaty, saying Russia must first withdraw troops from Moldova and Georgia.

In Moldova's breakaway province of Transdniester, NATO has proposed that a multinational peacekeeping force replace Russian troops.

Daneil Fried, a U.S. assistant secretary of state taking part in the talks, says the differences over the CFE treaty could be resolved quickly.

If Russia withdrew troops from Moldova and Georgia, "we would move rapidly to ratify the adapted CFE Treaty and then we'd be in better shape to address further Russian concerns. But we're not going to do this without the Russians helping. They've got to do their part," Fried said.

Russia's desire to update the treaty reflects Moscow's growing anxiety about what it sees as a buildup of U.S. forces in Europe.

First Russia's former Warsaw Pact allies joined NATO, then the United States started talking about putting military bases in Romania and Bulgaria.

Missile Shield

Russia's latest objection is to U.S. plans to base parts of an antimissile system in Central Europe, saying it upsets the security balance. The United States says the shield is intended to counter "rogue" threats.

At the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Germany last week, Putin suggested that the United States and Russia jointly operate a radar station in Azerbaijan to guard against possible missile attacks.

Speaking to Reuters on June 11, the Russian delegate at the meeting, Antonov, said Putin's proposal would not be discussed at the Vienna meeting. But he hoped there would be some progress before Putin's expected meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in July.

"There is no deadline, there was a proposal. I hope that the United States will consider it very soon and we hope that we will continue expert consultations. And I hope that there will be some ideas before the forthcoming summit between the Russian president and [the president of] the United States," Antonov said.

Putin is expected to visit Bush at his oceanside family retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine.

(compiled from agency reports)

Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org