15:24, 10 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. Russia has indicated its intention to formally withdraw from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), a military transparency agreement that is currently suspended, RT reported citing announcements published by the Kremlin.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has been selected by President Vladimir Putin to supervise the procedure in the Russian parliament.

The appointment was revealed on Wednesday as part of regular Kremlin announcements. Ryabkov will represent the government in both chambers of parliament regarding the proposed withdrawal, the document said.

Leonid Slutsky, the leader of the nationalist LDPR party, told RIA Novosti that a draft law on Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty could be introduced as early as this week.

The CFE treaty was one of the cornerstones of the attempted de-escalation of tensions between the Warsaw Pact bloc and NATO during the final days of the USSR. Signed in 1990, the agreement set limits for deployment of conventional forces on the European continent and established various transparency mechanisms, such as on-site verification inspections.