http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200711/20071108931567.html
俄國會決議凍結傳統武力條約 研擬增兵西境
法新社╱張佑之 2007-11-08 00:20
(法新社莫斯科七日電)俄羅斯國會今天一致決議,暫停遵行一九九零年的歐洲傳統武力條約。
俄國國會下院的提案中說,有鑑於北約東擴和歐洲其他因素,這項條約「不再符合俄羅斯聯邦的安全利益」。這項表決等於是由立法機構批准總統蒲亭七月間業已宣布的決定。
歐洲傳統武力條約曾在一九九九年修改,以便將蘇聯解體納入考量,但俄羅斯是唯一已批准新版條約的國家。
一名俄國高層官員說,今天的表決並不意謂,俄國已退出這項經過更新的條約,而僅表示,俄國希望北約各國也能批准並遵行新版條約。
在國會表決之前不久,俄國副國防部長柯馬可夫說,由於條約已擱置,俄方現正衡量在其國土西側增加駐軍的可能性。
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071107/wl_afp/russianatomilitarytreatycfe_071107195959
Russia confirms treaty suspension, weighs force deployments
by Christopher Boian
Wed Nov 7, 2:59 PM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's parliament voted Wednesday to suspend compliance with a key Cold War treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe as Moscow signalled it was weighing new force deployments on its western flank.
NATO quickly responded to the move, calling it a "regrettable step."
The lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, voted unanimously to approve a Kremlin decision to suspend compliance with the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty from December 12.
The CFE treaty "no longer responds to the security interests of the Russian Federation" in light of NATO expansion and other factors that have altered the European security landscape, according to the motion approved by the Duma.
The vote was confirmation of a decision announced by President Vladimir Putin last July. The upper house of parliament was expected to validate the Duma vote on November 16.
The 1990 pact, signed by the states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, was modified in 1999 to take account of the breakup of the Soviet Union and the evolving security allegiances on the continent.
But Russia is the only party so far to have ratified the updated CFE pact. NATO members, led by the United States, have balked at ratifying the new deal until all Russian forces are out of ex-Soviet states Georgia and Moldova.
Russian officials insisted they had fully complied with the updated version and wanted the West to do the same.
"As far as the 1999 decision reached in Istanbul is concerned, Russia has fulfilled its obligations on all issues -- including the withdrawal of troops from Georgia and Moldova," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Shortly before the Duma vote, a senior Russian defence official said Russia was looking at options for bolstering conventional force deployments on its western flank with Europe in light of the CFE suspension.
"Work is being done on this issue," Russia's deputy defence minister, General Alexander Kolmakov, was quoted as saying by domestic news agencies, adding that no decision had yet been taken.
Russia's armed forces chief of staff, General Yury Baluyevsky, was quoted by Interfax news agency afterwards as saying that Russia was in no rush to deploy more forces in the west of the country but "must have the right" to do so.
Baluyevsky said that as a result of its enlargement to take in former states of the Soviet-run Warsaw Pact, NATO had already largely exceeded the conventional force deployment limits spelled out by the CFE treaty.
Specifically, he said NATO had surpassed those limits by nearly 6,000 tanks, 10,822 armoured fighting vehicles, 5,000 artillery pieces, nearly 1,500 military aircraft and more than 500 strike helicopters.
"The destruction of the CFE treaty will be a massive, painful loss for the states of Europe," Baluyevsky said.
In Brussels, NATO spokesman James Appathurai voiced the alliance's displeasure with the Russian move, saying "each step that Russia takes toward the withdrawal of the treaty is a regrettable step."
The Duma vote and reports that Moscow was reviewing its conventional force configuration in Europe were the latest in a series of assertive defence policy changes that have ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the West.
Putin and other top Russian officials this year have threatened to retarget nuclear missiles at European cities, renewed long-distance strategic bomber patrols and threatened to withdraw from other bedrock disarmament treaties.
Russia has been particularly upset by US plans to deploy elements of its new missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying the plan in its current state would harm Russian security.
The United States has said the plan is designed to protect Europe from missiles launched by "rogue states" like Iran and has rejected the Russian complaints, though the two sides continue to discuss the issue.