MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. Reaching any agreements on conventional arms control in Europe is now unrealistic, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday.
"Reaching any agreements in this area is now unrealistic: both due to the overall extremely high level of confrontation, and because the West's ability to negotiate is seriously undermined by its actions," Ryabkov said at a conference of the CFE Treaty member states.
"It will be possible to talk about a new treaty on conventional arms control only after the current stormy period of European history is over and the West abandons its hostile anti-Russian policy. When the time comes to sit down at the negotiating table, the world will be very different and a fundamentally new approach will be required. Of course, we will be guided solely by our national interests," Ryabkov pointed out.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law denouncing the CFE Treaty on May 29 and it entered into force on June 9.
This treaty was signed in 1990 and adapted in 1997. However, NATO countries did not ratify the adapted version of the document and have continued to adhere to the 1990 provisions, based on the conventional arms balance between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. As a result, Russia was compelled to declare a moratorium on implementing the terms of the treaty in 2007.
On March 11, 2015, Russia suspended its participation in meetings of the Joint Consultative Group on the CFE Treaty, completing the process of suspending its membership in the CFE while remaining a purely de jure party to the treaty. Since then, Belarus has represented Russia’s interests in the Joint Consultative Group.