Türkiye suspends key European arms control treaty — RT World News
Ankara said that the 1990 conventional arms reduction agreement became meaningless after Russia's exit
Ankara has suspended its participation in the main European arms control agreement that was supposed to prevent the emergence of new conflicts on the continent after the end of the Cold War.
Under the decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and published on Friday, Turkey will stop implementing the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty on April 8.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ongo Kisele said this “There was no possibility of continuing the meaningful implementation of the Treaty.” Since Russia withdrew from the agreement in November.
The original Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty was signed in 1990 by NATO and the Soviet Union. Its main goal was to limit the number of tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery, and aircraft that either side could deploy between the Atlantic coast and the Ural Mountains. The agreement was later amended to reflect the breakup of the Soviet bloc and NATO's eastward expansion during the late 1990s.
NATO members refused to ratify the revised version of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which eventually led to its suspension by Russia in 2007. Moscow also cited Washington's plans to deploy anti-aircraft missiles in Europe as one of the reasons for the treaty's collapse.
Russia withdrew from conventional forces in Europe entirely in November 2023, arguing that the once-promising agreement had been rendered meaningless by Western military support for Ukraine, anti-Russian sanctions and other matters. “Hostile policies.” The United States suspended its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty after Russia's withdrawal.
The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty is not the only landmark arms control agreement that has expired due to current tensions between Russia and NATO. In 2019, the United States withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which restricted the number of US and Russian intermediate-range nuclear missiles launched from the ground. Moscow withdrew from the agreement last year. The treaty collapsed as the two countries accused each other of secretly violating it.
In 2020, the United States withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, which allowed mutual surveillance flights over the entire territory of the participants. Russia followed suit, abandoning the agreement a year later.
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