Russia wants Belarus to represent it in talks on armed forces in Europe

Moscow halted its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

It is announced in the statement of the head of the Russian delegation in Vienna negotiations on the issues of military security and arms control Anton Mazur, which has been made at a plenary session of the Joint consultative group on the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe on March 10, 2015. The document was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

“The Russian Federation has taken the decision to halt its participation in meetings of the (consulting group) from March 11, 2015. Therefore, Russia is ending its actions in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, announced in 2007, completely.

This move of the Russian side does not mean its withdrawal from a further dialogue on conventional armaments control in Europe, when and if our partners are ready for that. As before we are ready for a joint work on a new regime of control over conventional armaments, which would be in interests of Russia and other European countries.

From now onward the Russian Federation asks the Republic of Belarus to represent its interests in the Joint Consultative Group,” the statement reads.

The Foreign Ministry of Belarus has not commented on the statement of the representative of Russia still.