November 7, 2007 (LPAC)--Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has voted for President Vladimir Putin's bill to freeze Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. The moratorium on the arms-reduction pact will take effect on the night of December 12-13, or 150 days after Russia notified other signatories to the treaty.

Putin signed a decree to suspend the 1990 CFE Treaty in mid-July, because the amended version of the Soviet-era treaty, signed in 1999, has not been ratified by any NATO countries. Moscow considers the original CFE Treaty to be outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion. NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Transdnestr and other breakaway post-Soviet regions, as a condition for their ratification of the CFE Treaty.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it might reinforce its troops near its western borders if parliament supported the president. "We are carrying out work as regards the issue," said First Deputy Defense Minister, Gen. Alexander Kolmakov. The ministry earlier said that over the last decade, NATO has substantially exceeded armament levels permitted by the CFE for NATO members--by 6,000 tanks, 10,000 armored vehicles, over 5,000 artillery items, and some 1,500 combat planes.

Russia's chief of the General Staff, General of the Army Yuri Baluyevsky, said Russia must abolish a Flank Limitations clause in the CFE. Russia's so-called Flank Zone includes both the Leningrad Military District in the north and the North Caucasus Military District in the south.

The general said the current treaty favored the U.S. and NATO because it allowed them to implement an "eastward expansion" strategy, and monitor Russian troops in the European part of Russia. He said the treaty was discriminatory and any possible future dismantling of it would not affect Russia as much as it would affect Europe. "Russia has a sufficient arsenal of forces, means, and resources to ensure its security and national interests," Baluyevsky said.