Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council John Kirby said that after Russia’s withdrawal from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the US’s European NATO allies may need to change the balance of power.
“We will do what is required of us to meet our obligations to our allies under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This may require a change in the balance of power, but I do not intend to talk about this today,” Mr. Kirby said at a briefing (quoted by TASS).
The CFE Treaty was signed in 1990. The original participants were six Warsaw Pact states, including the USSR, and 16 NATO states. The document set quotas for the number of battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery, attack helicopters and combat aircraft. Russia suspended participation in the treaty in July 2007 after NATO refused to ratify its updated version. Read more.
When asked why the United States, after Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty, also decided to suspend fulfillment of obligations under the treaty, Mr. Kirby replied that Moscow left Washington no other choice.
In May 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law denouncing the CFE Treaty. The Russian Foreign Ministry allowed for the resumption of dialogue with the West while refusing to contain Moscow.
Read more in the Kommersant article “EVEN SERIOUS.”
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