LEAD: 14 NATO members and US suspend European arms control pact

Nov 23, 2011, 14:01 GMT

Brussels - Fourteen NATO countries have followed the United States in stopping implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), by halting the flow of armament information to Russia, NATO diplomats said Wednesday.

The step was aimed at focusing Russia's attention on the long-standing conflict over the treaty, which also limits the numbers of non-nuclear arms that can be deployed, diplomats in Vienna said.

The group of NATO countries, which includes Germany, notified the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of their decision Tuesday.

More members of the 28-member military alliance were planning the same move, according to the NATO sources.

'This is a reaction to Russia having suspended the CFE treaty in 2007 and not being willing to return to it,' they said.

Vienna diplomats said the move would not stop the flow of military information altogether, as OSCE countries have other formal information channels that remain in place.

Moscow stopped implementing the pact because the West did not ratify amendments to the treaty.

NATO countries had demanded that Russia withdraw from Moldova and Georgia first.

The stalemate continued at a treaty review conference in October.

The step by NATO countries 'puts the CFE treaty on the table,' one diplomat said in Vienna.

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