The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty has no future. There are no chances that it can be reinstated on a new basis. The arms control process currently relies on the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), and on the 2011 Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures. The Russian Defense Ministry shares its conventional and strategic arms control secrets.

       The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty has no future, Sergei Ryzhkov, Head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s International Treaties Implementation Department (National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center), told journalists at a briefing the other day.

       The CFE Treaty was signed in November 1990, a time of confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries. But by late 2007 the treaty had become completely obsolete after Russia withdrew from it, Ryzhkov explained. Some former Warsaw Pact member countries have joined NATO. Several post-Soviet republics, namely Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have also become NATO members. Although the CFE Treaty has lost its raison d'être, the arms control process continues. But there are no chances that it can be reinstated on a new basis. The arms control process currently relies on the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), officially called Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, which was signed by the presidents of Russia and the United States in 2010. Moreover, the arms control process relies on the 2011 Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures. The Defense Ministry stresses that, unlike previous years, both documents are non-confrontational. All their provisions are being fulfilled meticulously and on time. And all contentious issues are addressed by bilateral commissions. Journalists noted that one such issue, the violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) by the United States, may also be discussed. To test their missile interceptors the US Armed Forces use medium-range missile stages, which under the INF Treaty are supposed to be scrapped. Ryzhkov said that he knew about this problem, and that senior Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry officials had repeatedly raised the issue with the US side. It is to be hoped that our US partners will take notice of Russia's concerns.

       Currently, the Department monitors the implementation of 16 international agreements, Ryzhkov told journalists. They include such important documents as the New START Treaty, the Treaty on Open Skies and the 2011 Vienna Document. Unlike the CFE Treaty, the 2011 Vienna Document is based on principles of collaboration and cooperation with foreign partners. Under this document, the parties concerned put on display their military equipment, partners are invited to attend military exercises, air force bases and military aircraft are shown, and exchanges of cadets and students of higher educational institutions are arranged. Under the 2011 Vienna Document there will be five inspections a year, compared to 45 under the CFE Treaty. The party which voiced this initiative has the right to choose the locations subject to inspection. Combat-ready motorized rifle brigades or tank brigades, rather than weapons and military equipment depots, are monitored, so that in effect, inspectors check everything that may threaten the security of any country. However, military equipment depots and their components are still checked in terms of tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery systems with a caliber of over 100 mm, airplanes and helicopters, like they were under the CFE Treaty. An officer of the reserve noted that the entire arms control strategy should be revised. Currently, conventional weapons should not be viewed separately from strategic arms, high-precision weapons, electronic countermeasures (ECM) and radio-electronic warfare systems, unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs), air-defense and missile-defense systems, which without question affect the security of any state.

       The National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, which is headed by Ryzhkov, focuses on the following two high-priority aspects in its work. First, the Center notifies foreign partners about Russian military activities, including missile launches, military exercises, naval operations, military flights, etc. At the same time, it directly monitors similar activities of Russia’s partners. The Center, which annually receives up to 2,000 notifications, has already conducted 39 inspections under the New START Treaty, including three inspections in 2013. The Russian side also sends up to 1,500 notifications each year.

       This article was originally published in Russian in Nezavisimaya Gazeta

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