MINSK, May 29. /TASS/. Belarus is ready to resume observing the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) on the condition that all NATO member states that are party to the treaty also do so, the Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement on the suspension of the country's participation in the CFE Treaty after President Alexander Lukashenko signed a law to that effect, the diplomats said: "The suspension of Belarus' participation in the CFE Treaty is a forced retaliatory step aimed at ensuring the country's national security amid the destruction of the existing conventional arms control regime in Europe and the continued escalation of military and political tensions in the region." "The adoption of the law does not mean Belarus is withdrawing from the treaty. We will be ready to return to its implementation on the condition that all NATO member states that are party to the treaty also do so," the ministry said.

According to diplomats, Belarus is ready "to continue to comply with the treaty limits on personnel and conventional armaments and equipment at the national level, subject to restraint on the part of neighboring states, primarily NATO members, including in the immediate vicinity of its borders." Minsk "remains committed to conventional arms control as an integral element of ensuring security on the European continent and is interested in restoring its viability and effectiveness." "In this regard, Belarus is ready for dialogue on this issue with all interested parties on an equal and mutually respectful basis, taking into account each other's interests and concerns," the ministry emphasized.

The Belarusian side made every effort to preserve the CFE Treaty, which, despite all its shortcomings, remained the only multilateral legally binding instrument of conventional arms control on the European continent. "We were ready to fulfill the treaty despite the frankly unfriendly steps taken by some parties towards Belarus, which halted the implementation of the CFE Treaty," the statement said.

Belarus and CFE Treaty

In early April, the Belarusian presidential press service said that the head of state had given the okay to submit a bill to the parliament on the suspension of the country’s participation in the CFE Treaty, which Minsk signed in 1992. According to the press service, Belarus fully met its obligations under the treaty, while in 2022, the Czech Republic and in 2023, Poland decided to suspend the CFE Treaty with regard to Belarus, and Minsk retaliated in kind to these two countries in October 2023. Moreover, in November 2023, NATO countries decided to indefinitely suspend their participation in the treaty, which, according to Belarus, essentially means the treaty itself is suspended.