MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia on Wednesday walked out of a key Cold War treaty setting limits on troops and weapons across Europe, but promised there were no immediate plans for a major military build-up.
Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty was suspended from midnight in Moscow (2100 GMT Tuesday), the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Such a step has been caused by the exceptional circumstances connected to the content of the treaty which concern the security of Russia and demand that we take immediate measures," the ministry statement said.
Signed in 1990 and modified in 1999, the CFE places precise limits on the stationing of troops and heavy weapons from the Atlantic coast to Russia's Ural mountains -- a mammoth agreement that helped resolve the Cold War standoff.
President Vladimir Putin, who has made a priority of restoring Russian military might, signed a decree ordering Moscow's suspension of the treaty last month.
Suspension means troops can now be moved around the country without notifying NATO.
The foreign ministry said that Russia was no longer "constrained by the limitations placed on arms deployments on its flanks."
However, the ministry added a reassuring note, saying: "We have no current plans to accumulate massive armaments on our neighbours' borders."
In theory, Russia can return to the treaty at any time, but analysts say that is unlikely, given mounting East-West tensions.
The demise of the CFE comes on top of Moscow's threat to leave the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, as well as tensions around US plans to install a missile-defence shield in NATO members Poland and the Czech Republic.
At the heart of Russia's complaints on the CFE is NATO's failure to ratify the amended 1999 version of the treaty, taking into account the huge changes wrought by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
NATO countries say they cannot ratify the 1999 version because Russian troop presence in ex-Soviet Georgia and Moldova violates the treaty, a charge Moscow rejects.
In addition, Moscow has been pushing for changes to CFE limits on moving troops to the European, western flank of the vast country. "Imagine that President (George W.) Bush cannot move his forces from California to the New York region," Antonov said. "It's ridiculous."
Russia also wants Baltic countries such as Estonia, once part of the Soviet Union and thus of the Warsaw Pact, to join the CFE.
Observers said the long list of problems made the CFE unlikely to get back on track. "The treaty is dead," military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said.
Last week Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko gave a mixed message about possible changes in troop levels.
"Russia has no plans to raise its military presence in Europe, obviously, that is, if there is not an attempt to raise the military presence by NATO countries," he said.
According to Felgenhauer "it is practically inevitable that Russia will begin moving weapons west, primarily to borders of Baltic states."
"It makes a lot of economic sense to move forces from Siberia to Leningrad district, because it's two or three times more expensive to keep them in Siberia. It will also send a powerful signal to the West. It's a win-win situation for Russia."
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