VIENNA, June 30. /TASS/. Belarus took a sympathetic view of Moscow's position at the conference on Russia's withdrawal from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) held in Vienna, Konstantin Gavrilov, who leads the Russian delegation to military security and arms control talks, told TASS on Friday .
"The Belarusians demonstrated understanding of our position and pointed to the West’s ‘efforts’ toward the CFE Treaty’s dismantling," he said.
According to the Russian diplomat, some Central European countries "showed a neutral attitude during the discussion and expressed regret that the European continent will not become stronger and safer due to this controversy."
The conference on Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty was held in Vienna on June 29-30. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said during the conference that the United States and its allies would be to blame for the possible termination of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. According to Ryabkov, the West has opted to take a path of confrontation.
The law on the denunciation of the CFE Treaty was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 29 and came into force on June 9.
The CFE Treaty was signed in 1990 and adapted in 1997. However, NATO countries did not ratify the adapted version of the CFE 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 forced to declare a moratorium on the treaty’s implementation in 2007.