MOSCOW. May 10 (Interfax) - The Russian president has submitted a draft law on the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) for consideration by the State Duma.
The corresponding document was published on the Duma's legislative activity database on Wednesday.
Russia's participation in the CFE Treaty currently remains suspended.
On July 13, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which Russia suspended its participation in the CFE Treaty and related international treaties, and a relevant bill passed the Russian parliament on November 29, 2007.
"Since 2007, the situation in Europe with respect to conventional arms has notably deteriorated. The United States and its allies are pursuing a policy of military confrontation with Russia, which is fraught with disastrous repercussions," an explanatory note attached to the bill says.
The treaty is of indefinite duration, but each state party to the treaty has the right to withdraw from it in the exercise of their national sovereignty, provided that it notifies the cosignatory and other states parties of its decision in advance (at least 150 days prior), it says.
"The current state of affairs requires that measures be taken in terms of denouncing the Treaty and initiating national procedures for the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Treaty, upon the completion of which the cosignatory and other state parties will be notified accordingly," it says.
Related international treaties will be automatically terminated by the Russian Federation simultaneously along with the Treaty. Specifically, these include the Agreement on Maximum Levels for Holdings of Conventional Arms and Equipment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic in connection with the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, signed in Budapest on November 3, 1990, the Document agreed by the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe of November 19, 1990, an annex to the Final Document of the First Conference to Review the Operation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, and the Concluding Act of the Negotiation on Personnel Strength (Vienna, May 15-31, 1996), the explanatory note says.
State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky said earlier on Wednesday that the Foreign Affairs Committee is ready to discuss the denouncement of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe as a priority, once the relevant package of documents is submitted by the president for the State Duma's consideration. "I do not rule out that it may be submitted for consideration at a plenary meeting of the State Duma as soon as May 16, and the Duma Council will make the final decision," he said.