MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Moscow has evidence that some East European countries are in breach of the treaty on conventional forces in Europe (CFE Treaty), Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday.
"Lately, we obtained evidence that some East European states directly violated provisions of the CFE treaty," he said.
Ryabkov pointed out that "there has emerged a new situation where even the formal preservation of Russia's status as a party to the Treaty, despite its suspension, directly contradicts the interests of the country's national security."
"We have already written it off. It is a thing of the past. What other states will do is up to them to decide. They won't be able to intimidate us," he stressed.
About CFE Treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Ryabkov as his official representative at the parliamentary review of Russia's denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. A presidential decree to this effect was published on May 10.
The CFE Treaty was concluded in 1990 and adapted in 1997. The NATO countries have not ratified the adapted version of this document and continued to adhere to the 1990 provisions, which contained conventional arms norms based on the balance between NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization. As a result, Russia was forced to declare a moratorium on implementing the terms of the agreement in 2007.
On March 11, 2015 Russia suspended its participation in meetings of the Joint Consultative Group on the CFE Treaty, thus completing the process of suspending its membership of the treaty, but legally continues to remain its signatory. Since then, Russia's interests in the Joint Consultative Group have been represented by Belarus.