July 15 (LPAC)--Itar-tass, RIA Novosti and other Russian news agencies are reporting a very important background to the decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to suspend participation in the Treaty on Conventional Arms Forces in Europe, which was signed between NATO and the Warsaw Treaty countries in 1990. Namely, that only Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, ratified the treaty as adapted in 1999, after the Soviet Union--which had signed the original agreement--had ceased to exist.

In fact, for the last year, Russian officials have been warning that the treaty was jeopardized because Russia and the other ratifiers were observing the treaty, while NATO, which was expanding eastward, was ignoring it, and ignoring appeals by Russia for Western ratification.

Itar-tass reports that at a special conference in Vienna, Austria on June 12, which was called on Russia's initiative, a further updated version of the treaty was presented, but ignored.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia could no longer tolerate a situation where it was complying with the treaty but its partners were not, reported the Turkish news agency Zaman, and Peskov expressed hope Russia's move would induce Western nations to ratify the updated treaty.

The implementation of the freeze begins 150 days after all member countries are notified, and top Russian official, first Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov indicated that Russia is open to discussions and negotiations.

From the U.S./Europe side, the rhetoric is flying. "The allies consider this treaty to be an important cornerstone of European stability and they would like to see it ratified as soon as possible, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said. "Nato regrets this decision by the Russian Federation. It is a step in the wrong direction," he added.