MOSCOW. Oct 6 (Interfax-AVN) - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Rademaker said that Russia's failure to stand by its commitments under the Istanbul agreements remains the main obstacle to the enforcement of the adapted CFE treaty.
"We welcome the fact that the State Duma in June of this year adopted legislation authorizing ratification by Russia of the adapted treaty. But I explained at my meetings that the United States and our NATO allies are still not in a position to ratify the adapted treaty. The obstacle to ratification by the United States and our NATO allies is the failure by Russia for the past five years to implement the Istanbul commitments," Rademaker said at a Wednesday news conference at the Interfax main office.
"We would like to ratify the adapted CFE Treaty and bring it into force, but there is no prospect of this happening without Russia's compliance with the Istanbul commitments," Rademaker said.
"I must say it's inexplicable to me why we don't see more progress," he said.
"The thrust of the Istanbul commitments is an undertaking by Russia to withdraw its forces from Moldova and to negotiate with the government of Georgia an arrangement that provides for the duration of the continued Russian troop presence in Georgia," the U.S. diplomat said.
"Five years have gone by since the Istanbul commitments were entered, and yet neither of these things has happened," he said.
"The United States wants to do everything it can to facilitate compliance with the Istanbul commitments," he said.