[A-List] NATO's Drive East, Confrontation In Europe

["tony black" <tal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: Stop NATO
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:16 PM
Subject: [stopnato] NATO's Drive East, US Missiles: New Arms Buildup, 
Confrontation In Europe


http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/27/stories/2007042702411600.htm

The Hindu
April 27, 2007

Russia threatens to walk out of arms pact
Vladimir Radyuhin

NATO increasing military presence in Europe: Putin

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin has called for a
freeze on Russian compliance with a 1990 treaty on the
reduction of armed forces in Europe and threatened to
walk out of the pact in response to a U.S. military
build-up near Russian borders.

Recalling that Russia not only ratified the
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE),
which limited the number of troops and heavy weapons
in continental Europe, but has fully complied with it,
Mr. Putin said the NATO countries were refusing to
endorse the pact and were increasing military presence
in Eastern Europe.

Pretexts

"Refusing to ratify the CFE treaty under far-fetched
pretexts they are using this situation to expand a
network of military bases near our borders," he said
in his annual state-of-the-nation address in the
Kremlin on Thursday.

"Moreover, they are planning to deploy components of a
missile defence system in the Czech Republic and
Poland....I think it will be expedient to declare a
moratorium on Russian compliance with the [CFE] treaty
until all NATO member countries ratify it," Mr. Putin
said, adding that Moscow will consider withdrawing
from the treaty altogether if NATO fails to heed its
complaints.

The CFE treaty has been the cornerstone of European
security, and its collapse may trigger a new arms race
on the continent.

Initially negotiated between NATO and the now defunct
Warsaw Pact, the CFE treaty paved the way to the
destruction of 60,000 armoured vehicles, heavy
artillery and aircraft, and the reduction of the two
bloc's armies in Europe from 5.7 to fewer than three
million men.

In 1999 the pact was amended to take account of new
realities — the induction of former Warsaw Pact
countries into NATO and the break up of the Soviet
Union.

However, the NATO members have stalled demanding that
Russia first withdraw its troops from Georgia and
Moldova, which Moscow said was not related to the CFE
pact.

A moratorium on compliance with the CFE treaty will
enable Russia to strengthen troops near its Western
borders and re-deploy heavy weapon systems it has
pulled out from its European territory.

Mr. Putin said with the Warsaw Pact gone it was an
anachronism that Russia should be restricted in
deploying its armed forces within its own borders.

"It is hard to imagine that the United States, for
example, would accept restrictions on the movement of
its troops around its own territory."
------------------------------------------------------
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1296735.php/Putin_calls_for_moratorium_on_military_limits_in_Europe

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 26, 2007

Putin calls for moratorium on military limits in
Europe

Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday
called for a moratorium by Russia of the Treaty on
Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), an agreement that
removed a massive Red Army presence from Soviet and
satellite states in 1990.

'I think it's reasonable to declare a moratorium on
the fulfilling by Russia of this agreement. In any
case, until all NATO countries without exception
ratify it,' Putin said in his annual address to
Russia's legislature, televised across the country.

The CFE limited NATO and the Soviet Union each to
20,000 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces, 30,000 armoured
combat vehicles, 6,800 combat aircraft and 2,000
attack helicopters between the Atlantic Ocean and the
Ural Mountains.

Guy Roberts, NATO's deputy secretary general, told
Interfax he hoped Putin's remarks were a suggestion,
rather than an already-made decision.

It was not clear if the moratorium had already been
taken: Putin implored the legislature to back the
moratorium, adding 'as I understand, it's already
supported.'

Putin's speech came amid increasing Russian rhetoric
against a planned US missile-defence shield, despite
an emergency visit earlier this week by US Defence
Secretary Robert Gates to invite Russia to join the
project as a partner.

Washington says the shield is meant to minimize the
threat of any possible Iranian or North Korean missile
attacks, but Russian officials have said even after
Gates' visit that Russia is its true target.

In response, Moscow says any planned missile-defence
elements in the Czech Republic or Poland could become
targets of Russian nuclear or conventional missiles.

The Russian leader called for European-wide dialogue
about the plans at a summit of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), adding that
he supported Kazakhstan's candidacy as chair of the
organization.

Kazakhstan's bid to chair the OSCE has been met with
skepticism from European members of the group, best
known for its monitoring of elections. The OSCE
sharply criticized Kazakh parliamentary and
presidential elections in 2004 and 2005.

'In the greater plan, we're talking about a culture
... of international relations without imposing models
of development or forcing a natural movement of the
historical process,' especially in questions of
democratization, the Russian president added.

Putin in his address said 'practically all types of
heavy arms' had been moved from the European part of
Russia and said the United States would not limit the
number of troops on a certain part of its territory
'for such a reason.'

The 1990 agreement was signed after decades of a huge
Red Army presence across Eastern Europe and was
heralded as a landmark deal for removing tensions
across the Iron Curtain.

An adapted version of the treaty was signed in 1999 to
account for the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Russia has ratified the document, but NATO
member-states say they will not sign it until Russia
removes troops from breakaway republics in Georgia and
Moldova, as the so-called Istanbul commitments of 1999
stipulate.

Putin on Thursday called the Istanbul commitments,
which had political rather than legal force, 'not
legally connected' to the CFE.

Additionally, the formerly Soviet Baltic states that
are now part of NATO have not ratified the document,
which Putin said 'creates real dangers with
unpredictable surprises.'

'What are they? What are our partners?' Putin said,
adding that they 'at the minimum behave badly, trying
to gain one-sided advantages.'

Russia has said it will put 5 trillion rubles (188
billion dollars) toward military equipment by 2015,
including 31 ships, 50 strategic bombers, 50 Topol M
rocket systems and possibly an aircraft carrier.

Putin on Thursday said Russia was 'only ... using its
competitive advantages, as all states of the world do
without exception.'

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