Putin calls for moratorium on military limits in Europe

Apr 26, 2007, 11:31 GMT

Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for a moratorium by Russia of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), an agreement that removed a massive Red Army presence from Soviet and satellite states in 1990.

'I think it's reasonable to declare a moratorium on the fulfilling by Russia of this agreement. In any case, until all NATO countries without exception ratify it,' Putin said in his annual address to Russia's legislature, televised across the country.

The CFE limited NATO and the Soviet Union each to 20,000 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces, 30,000 armoured combat vehicles, 6,800 combat aircraft and 2,000 attack helicopters between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains.

Guy Roberts, NATO's deputy secretary general, told Interfax he hoped Putin's remarks were a suggestion, rather than an already-made decision.

It was not clear if the moratorium had already been taken: Putin implored the legislature to back the moratorium, adding 'as I understand, it's already supported.'

Putin's speech came amid increasing Russian rhetoric against a planned US missile-defence shield, despite an emergency visit earlier this week by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to invite Russia to join the project as a partner.

Washington says the shield is meant to minimize the threat of any possible Iranian or North Korean missile attacks, but Russian officials have said even after Gates' visit that Russia is its true target.

In response, Moscow says any planned missile-defence elements in the Czech Republic or Poland could become targets of Russian nuclear or conventional missiles.

The Russian leader called for European-wide dialogue about the plans at a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), adding that he supported Kazakhstan's candidacy as chair of the organization.

Kazakhstan's bid to chair the OSCE has been met with skepticism from European members of the group, best known for its monitoring of elections. The OSCE sharply criticized Kazakh parliamentary and presidential elections in 2004 and 2005.

'In the greater plan, we're talking about a culture ... of international relations without imposing models of development or forcing a natural movement of the historical process,' especially in questions of democratization, the Russian president added.

Putin in his address said 'practically all types of heavy arms' had been moved from the European part of Russia and said the United States would not limit the number of troops on a certain part of its territory 'for such a reason.'

The 1990 agreement was signed after decades of a huge Red Army presence across Eastern Europe and was heralded as a landmark deal for removing tensions across the Iron Curtain.

An adapted version of the treaty was signed in 1999 to account for the break-up of the Soviet Union. Russia has ratified the document, but NATO member-states say they will not sign it until Russia removes troops from breakaway republics in Georgia and Moldova, as the so-called Istanbul commitments of 1999 stipulate.

Putin on Thursday called the Istanbul commitments, which had political rather than legal force, 'not legally connected' to the CFE.

Additionally, the formerly Soviet Baltic states that are now part of NATO have not ratified the document, which Putin said 'creates real dangers with unpredictable surprises.'

'What are they? What are our partners?' Putin said, adding that they 'at the minimum behave badly, trying to gain one-sided advantages.'

Russia has said it will put 5 trillion rubles (188 billion dollars) toward military equipment by 2015, including 31 ships, 50 strategic bombers, 50 Topol M rocket systems and possibly an aircraft carrier.

Putin on Thursday said Russia was 'only ... using its competitive advantages, as all states of the world do without exception.'