Moscow says that the decision of the United States and several other NATO countries to suspend certain commitments under the CFE Treaty regarding Russia is not damaging.

“The decision of North Atlantic alliance states does not damage Russian interests, but indicates the need to intensify the efforts of all interested countries in determining the future of the regime of control over conventional arms in Europe,” says a commentary of the Russian Foreign Ministry information department posted on the Ministry’s web-site. NATO countries attribute the step “to the need to respond to Russia’s moratorium on the observance of CFE Treaty provisions effective since 2007,” the commentary says.

“The  motives behind such actions are clear to us. We would want to note that Russia introduced the moratorium as a measure in reply to NATO enlargement and the resulting imbalance in conventional armaments to the benefit of the military alliance,” the commentary says.

The Ministry does not find anything dramatic in the decision of NATO countries. “However, it is not very well timed as an active search continues for ways of restoring the viability of the regime of control over conventional forces in Europe,” the commentary says.

“It must be borne in mind that the CFE Treaty is not the only element in the system of exchanging military information and verifying it in the Euro-Atlantic space,” the Foreign Ministry says.

“Thus, OSCE countries, including Russia and NATO states, exchange information in the framework of the 1999 Vienna document on confidence-building and security measures, the document on the global exchange of military information, and the open skies agreement. We are convinced that such measures guarantee the necessary and sufficient transparency,” the commentary says.