Emergency Arms Control Meeting
Russia has called for an emergency meeting to discuss arms control in Europe. The key treaty sets a limit on the amount of equipment, such as tanks and artillery, that can be deployed in Europe. The treaty was revised in 1999 when Putin took over as president of Russia. The US and some European states have not signed the revised treaty. Russia is now threatening to pull out of the treaty, mainly because of plans by the US to install part of it’s anti-missile system on European soil. The Czech Republic and Poland have indicated an interest in hosting certain elements of the system. There are several other issues clouding Europe’s relationship with it’s neighbour, such as trade disputes.
Moscow has stepped up pressure over the future of conventional arms control in Europe, calling for an emergency conference on a key treaty from which it is threatening to withdraw. The move comes partly in reaction to US plans to build anti-missile bases in central Europe.
In a statement issued on Monday (28 May), the Russian foreign ministry said it had requested a meeting for June 12-15 in Vienna to address “serious problems related to the observance of the treaty by NATO nations as a result of the alliance’s expansion and their foot-dragging on the ratification of the 1999 agreement.”
The 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty - signed just after the end of the Cold War - set limits on conventional equipment such as combat aircraft and tanks in Europe and led to the removal of huge stockpiles of artillery in the 1990s.
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Administrator @ May 29, 2007