| Fact Sheet Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation Washington, DC January 25, 2008 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): Key Facts About the Current Treaty and Agreement on Adaptation PDF version The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) has made the world safer by providing the basis for elimination of over 69,000 Cold War-era battle tanks, combat aircraft and other major weapons in accordance with the Treaty and Treaty-related commitments in 30 countries from the Atlantic Ocean to Russia’s Ural Mountains. The CFE Treaty changed the face of European security by establishing new, cooperative political-military relationships. More than 5,500 on-site inspections to date as a result of CFE have helped to build a new era of political-military cooperation and openness. In an effort to update the 1990 Treaty to a new, highly stable, transparent set of limitations on conventional forces, and to bring it in line with today’s European security environment, the 30 CFE Treaty States Parties negotiated an “Agreement on Adaptation,” signed on November 19, 1999, at the Istanbul Summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This adapted Treaty is intended to build on the success of the original agreement by:
The United States of America supports the adapted Treaty as a positive step toward a stable and secure Europe. But, along with the great majority of Treaty parties, we have made clear we can only ratify the adapted CFE Treaty in the context of fulfillment by Russia of key political commitments it made at the Istanbul Summit, which created the conditions that allowed the Agreement on Adaptation to be signed. While some of those commitments have been met with financial support from the United States and other OSCE member nations, other commitments, such as an agreement between Russia and Georgia regarding the status of Russia’s remaining base in Georgia, and completed withdrawal of Russian military forces and ammunition stocks from Moldova, remain unfulfilled. Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that the current CFE Treaty does not address Russia’s security needs, and that all States Parties should immediately ratify the adapted Treaty. On December 12, 2007, Russia carried out its threatened “suspension” of implementation of the current Treaty, and subsequently did not provide its annual CFE data as the Treaty requires. The United States deeply regrets Russia’s “suspension,” which is not provided for under the terms of the Treaty, and not justified under customary international law. The U.S. and NATO Allies have engaged Russia in an intensive dialogue to address Moscow’s concerns with constructive, generous proposals. The U.S. will continue to monitor Russia’s further actions regarding its CFE Treaty obligations and encourage Russia to reverse its decision and work constructively to achieve our common goal of entry into force of the adapted CFE Treaty. Who are the CFE Treaty States? From 1990-1995, CFE Successfully Eliminated
For More Information: 1. Text of the CFE Treaty, from the U.S. Dept. of State Web site: http://www.state.gov/t/ac/trt/4781.htm 2. CFE Treaty Fact Sheet: http://www.state.gov/t/ac/rls/fs/11243.htm 4. “Twenty-First Century Security in the OSCE Region”, David J. Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/94654.htm 5. Defense Threat Reduction Agency: Summaries of the CFE Treaty and CFE-1A Agreement: http://dtirp.dtra.mil/TIC/treatyinfo/cfefs2.htm 6. Arms Control Association: “The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty at a Glance”: http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets//cfeback2.asp 7. Arms Control Association: “The Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty at a Glance”: http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/adaptcfe.asp |
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