MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. The current situation is unfavorable for coming up with new ideas for an alternative to the CFE Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with Parlamentskaya Gazeta, published on Monday.
"At this stage, the situation is unfavorable for proposing new ideas," he said. That, according to Ryabkov, could only be possible in the context of creating a new system of regional security "as soon as the stormy period in European history ends."
Russia has received no formal proposals to discuss any versions of the agreement, the senior diplomat lamented, while purely informal discussions involving academicians have come to a halt in recent years, he added. Meanwhile, "Russia had specific proposals in 2007," Ryabkov said.
"Naturally, the world to come will be quite different from the one we lived in back in 1990 or 1999, and this will require brand new approaches, including to arms control," the Russian deputy foreign minister concluded.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). Ryabkov was appointed as official presidential representative when the CFE treaty denunciation was being considered in parliament.
The CFE Treaty was signed in 1990 and adapted in 1999. 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 compelled to declare a moratorium on implementing the terms of the treaty in 2007.