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Russia to Suspend Compliance With Key European Pact
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U.S. officials appear increasingly tired of what they depict as Russian obduracy and willful distortion of the missile system's aims. "The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in Eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic deterrent is purely ludicrous, and everybody knows it," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a news conference in Oslo.
The Russians agree that they could easily overwhelm the system. Rather, their opposition stems from what they see as a series of broken promises during the eastward expansion of NATO since the fall of communism a decade and a half ago.
Russian officials contend that in 1999, when Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary became alliance members, NATO gave a commitment that it would not establish bases on the territory of the old Warsaw Pact or expand into the former Soviet Union.
U.S. forces are today opening bases in Romania and Bulgaria, and three former Soviet republics -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- became NATO members in 2004, moves that Russian officials contend are violations of agreements. Western officials deny those claims.
In view of NATO's record, Russians say, the missile defense system, once established, could be quickly expanded and become a real strategic threat to Russia. "I propose discussing this problem in the NATO-Russia Council and, should there be no progress in the negotiations, to look at the possibility of ceasing our commitments under the CFE Treaty," Putin said.
Putin also said the CFE Treaty, which limits Russia's ability to deploy its forces within its own borders, was an anachronism. "It is hard to imagine that anyone would restrict the United States, for example, in moving its troops around its own territory," he said.
He also noted that the United States and other NATO countries continue to link ratification of an amended 1999 version of the treaty to the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia and Moldova. Russia's suspension of the treaty, he suggested, would continue until the other countries ratify the new text and begin to "strictly implement it."
"It is finally time for our partners to contribute to reducing arms in actions and not words," Putin said.
Russian grievances resonate with some of NATO's European members who have questioned the need for missile defense. "I am still in listening mode, and I am still to be convinced about the threat," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said Thursday.
