The Russian parliament approved withdrawal from the Conventional Arms Treaty in Europe

“Withdrawing from the treaty is a signal (sent) to the West that the US and NATO countries are no longer partners for concluding treaties whose positions we would take into account,” the Russian newspaper quoted Kommersant Andrej Kartapolov, head of the parliamentary defense committee.

A report accompanying the proposal stated that “the document has become considerably out of date and out of touch with reality”.

Moscow suspended participation in the key disarmament agreement, which since the early 1990s has made it possible to effectively reduce the number of weapons and combat equipment in Europe by tens of thousands of pieces, in 2007.

The treaty sets maximum numbers for each participating state for five categories of weapons and military equipment: these are tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery systems with a caliber above 100 mm, combat aircraft and attack helicopters. The document also envisages the exchange of information and mutual inspections.