Stoltenberg “CFE, New Start, INF lose effect”
“Continued support to Ukraine will be beneficial in negotiations.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), claimed that Russia is threatening global security.
At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held in Berlin, the capital of Germany, on the 9th (local time), Secretary-General Stoltenberg pointed out that Russia’s recent withdrawal from the Arms and Nuclear Weapons Control Treaty poses a threat to global security.
He said, “Russia withdrew from the Conventional Arms Reduction Treaty in Europe (CFE) this week. With this action, Russia withdrew and withdrew from all major arms control treaties,” he said. “Early this year (February), Russia signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last agreement regulating the number of nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia.” “I stopped participating,” he explained.
Russia officially completed the CFE withdrawal process on the 7th. CFE is a conventional arms disarmament agreement signed in 1990 by the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO), led by the former Soviet Union, and NATO, a Western military alliance.
Russia suspended participation in 2007 on the grounds that NATO member countries did not ratify the CFE amendments, and then declared a complete suspension of treaty implementation in March 2015, effectively making it a non-existent state. In March of this year, eight years later, President Putin decided to officially withdraw from NATO, criticizing its continued expansion policy, and the Russian parliament unanimously approved it in May.
He continued, “A few years ago, Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty made this treaty invalid. “This is a reckless behavior pattern and makes the world more dangerous.” He also criticized, “Russia continues to undermine European security.”
“NATO is fully committed to arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation,” said Secretary-General Stoltenberg. “And we demand that Russia play a responsible role.”
At the same time, “Russia continues its brutal war in Ukraine,” he said. “Today, we must continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to remain strong on the battlefield.” Then tomorrow they can be strong at the negotiating table.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on the 2nd to cancel ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Convention (CTBT). Russia said it was a ‘balancing’ measure against the fact that the United States signed the CTBT Treaty but did not ratify it and thus did not complete the final legal process.
The CTBT is a multilateral treaty that prohibits nuclear weapons testing and other nuclear explosions in all environments, including civil and military. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 1996, but did not officially enter into force because eight of the 44 countries that possess or could possess nuclear weapons (the United States, China, Egypt, Israel, Iran, India, North Korea, and Pakistan) did not ratify it.
It was announced in March last year that it would suspend negotiations to conclude a peace treaty with Japan. Cooperation between Russia and Japan has almost come to a halt.
Secretary-General Stoltenberg visited Berlin at the invitation of Chancellor Scholz.
Source: Donga