Russia and America to discuss arms reduction pact in Paris

Russian-U.S. consultations on a Soviet-era deal to limit conventional weapons in Europe, on which Russia has imposed a moratorium, will be held in Paris Tuesday, the Russian Embassy said.

On July 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on Russia`s compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, which limits Russian and NATO conventional forces and heavy weaponry from the Atlantic to the Urals. No NATO countries have ratified the treaty`s amended version.

The moratorium is to come into force later this year if the West does not ratify the treaty.

The president`s announcement came after a tense conference in Vienna, where NATO member states refused to ratify the amended CFE Treaty until Russia fully withdraws its troops from Georgia and Moldova, a commitment given by the late President Boris Yeltsin in Istanbul in 1999.

Ten diplomats from each side will take part in the talks, with the Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak and the American delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation John Rood.

It will be the second meeting for the diplomats this week - on Monday they held consultations on missile defense.

The CFE Treaty was amended in 1999 in Istanbul in line with post-Cold War realities, and has so far only been ratified by Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine.

Moscow considers the original CFE Treaty, signed in 1990 by 30 countries to reduce conventional military forces on the continent, outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion.

Moldova and Georgia have refused to ratify the treaty until Russia withdraws its troops from their territories.

Russia maintains a peacekeeping contingent in Georgia and a battalion guarding ex-Soviet ammunition depots in the self-proclaimed republic of Transdnestr, in Moldova.

NATO countries have insisted on Russia`s withdrawal from Transdnestr and other post-Soviet regions as a condition for their ratifying the CFE Treaty. NATO`s reluctance to ratify the re-drafted pact is a key source of tension between Russia and the Western security alliance.

sections: Politics, World News