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Americans Break Off Conventional Arms Control Talks With Russia

By Mina Fabulous  

Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller for Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance today cited reasons why the United States Americans broke off conventional arms control talks with Russia during an interview with Judy Dempsey from the International Herald Tribune and Special Contributor to the Munich Security Conference.

"The situation simply could not continue indefinitely. The Russian Federation had "suspended implementation" of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) in December 2007." -Ms. Gottemoeller

She cited that last fall, the U.S. government decided that it needs to take action. She said together with a group of other Treaty signatories-NATO allies and partners Moldova and Georgia-we agreed to halt implementation of the Treaty with Russia.

"We continue to implement the CFE Treaty with all the other states-parties. We were sending a message; we considered it to be a rational countermeasure, and did it more in sorrow than in anger." -Ms. Gottemoeller

She stated it was a message to Russia that the United States would like to see them come back into implementation of the Treaty.

Ms. Gottemoeller stressed that the United States is committed to revitalizing the conventional arms control regime in Europe and continues to consult on finding a way forward with our Treaty partners.

She pointed out that it is still premature to talk about negotiations. However, she cited that ceasing the implementation of the CFE Treaty toward Russia actually opens up an environment to explore new opportunities for the future of conventional arms control in Europe.

After a year-long, high-level effort by the Obama administration to revive the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, the process appears to have ground to a halt in May and remained stuck since then.

The CFE Treaty was signed by Russia and NATO countries at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia had ratified the 1999 amendments requiring withdrawal of its forces from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia and had begun to withdraw its forces. The U.S. and other NATO members have refused to commit to the revised treaty until Russia's withdrawal is complete.

Mina Fabulous follows the news, especially what is going on in the US State Department. Mina turns State Department waffle into plain english. Contact Mina through NewsBlaze.