Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces

Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces

News: Recently, Russia pulled itself out of Cold War era Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces.

What is The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces?
• The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was a landmark arms control agreement that established parity in major conventional forces and armaments between East and West from the Atlantic to the Urals.
• It was signed in Paris on November 19, 1990, by the 22 members of NATO and the former Warsaw Pact.
• The treaty proposed equal limits for the two “groups of states-parties”, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact.
• The main objective of the Treaty was to reduce the possibility of a surprise armed attack and the triggering of major offensive operations in Europe.
• The treaty established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe (from the Atlantic to the Urals) and mandated the destruction of excess weaponry. The treaty included categories such as battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery pieces.

Why Russia pulled out?
• The reason cited by Russia for its withdrawal was that it blamed the United States for undermining postCold War security with the enlargement of NATO.

Consequences
• Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty was followed by 31 member states of NATO suspending their commitments to the same.
• It is the second major treaty on security from which Russia has withdrawn in recent times following the Ukraine war, first being the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
• The recent move will increase tensions with West and resolution making resolution of dispute on Ukraine even more difficult